"Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." (Genesis 18:14)
Anyone who wants to do business with God must know that things take time. Everything takes time, God’s time. God created time although He lives outside of time – He is from everlasting to everlasting, He lives forever. That’s why you cannot say God is a hundred years old, or a million years old, or even a billion years old. He does not live in time. He lives outside of time.
However, for everyone created by Him to dwell on planet earth, time is an essential factor in doing business with God. And things take time with God, for God is never in a hurry to act. Sometimes, this brings us a huge sense of disappointment as we wait for the fulfilment of God’s promises: we often notice that time is passing and certain of His promises appear to us to be so time-bound that if they did not happen at a certain time in our life, we think they might never happen at all.
This is the situation that Sarah and Abraham faced as they awaited the fulfilment of God’s promise of a child, namely, Isaac who eventually came to be born 25 years after God had made the promise: Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham 100 years old! No wonder the Bible says in the Book of Hebrews11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Perhaps, the most important word in that whole sentence is the word “diligently”: it means to believe God in spite of the passage time; to believe God continuously in spite of things which will well happen contrary to the promises of God; to believe God even when you have doubts that what He has promised will happen; to believe God without looking for a sign of the possibility of His promises becoming fulfilled; to believe God simply because God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
I remember when I first read the Book of Revelation as a young believer and came to the sentence: "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” (Revelation 22:12) It was not long after that I had a dream and I saw Jesus arrive triumphantly, breaking gloriously through the clouds! I felt so certain that He would arrive that year in 1981. Listen, Jesus is still coming quickly, it is just that things take time with God.
Experience has taught me through joyful and sorrowful news never to expect God to be constrained to the ways in which we human beings understand time. The Apostle Peter has this to say: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) I think that sums it up excellently!
So what is God’s time?
§ God’s time for us is the prepared time!
Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. (Genesis 21:2) When Moses was in confrontation with Pharaoh, the LORD appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land." (Exodus 9:5) Job in his distress and sorrow pleaded with God to remember him according to the time that God Himself had set beforehand. (Job 14:13) The Psalmist cried out for God’s favour reminding Him that the prepared time for His favour had come. (Psalm 102:13)
God does not act in a hurry. He acts according to His prepared time, His set time!
§ God’s time for us is any time!
So that we never lose hope, God’s prepared time can happen any time. That’s why we must be prepared everyday for the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. God’s prepared time for the fulfilment of His word in your life can happen today, it can happen tomorrow, it can happen this week, this month, this year! Never say it will not rain because there are no rain clouds! He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
God’s time for us is the best time!
God can never make a mistake. He always picks the best time for His actions, even if it looks out of time to those who are watching. Joseph’s life is a story of God’s best time in action. The best time is also known as the fullness of time. When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. God makes everything beautiful in the fullness of time!
God’s time for us is covenant-time!
A covenant with God does not get cancelled easily, if at all. Once God has entered willingly into an agreement to bless you, as long as you keep to the covenant yourself, you can be sure that God will find “covenant” time (that is, “agreeable time”) to bless you. In the interim, you may have to pass through deep waters and strange fiery events. Your faith may be shaken, your rest disturbed, your life in turmoil. However, if you stick to the covenant, you can be sure that God will find the agreeable time to pour His blessings out upon you despite all the setbacks that you have experienced in your journey with Him.
God’s time for us is divine time!
“Divine time” simply means “holy time”. Anything holy is set apart for the use and purposes of God. Same thing with your life! As you place your faith concretely in Christ Jesus, through His blood shed for you on the cross of Calvary, God sets you apart for exceptional favours. In time, you may feel like Gideon in the cave: “Where are these exceptional favours?” “Where are the great acts of God that I have read about or heard about?”
If walking with God is like staying on “Disney Island” enjoying pleasures forever more without any sorrow or disappointment, everyone will believe in God! No, the reality is far different: when we walk with God, there will be times of sorrow, times of disappointment, times when we feel that God has let us down; times when we feel God has not cared enough; times when we feel God has not heard our prayers; times when we feel perhaps God is not powerful enough!
But, thanks be to God, if we persevere and hold on to Him, despite all the setbacks, we will discover that since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God like our God who acts for the one who waits for Him. Indeed: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." May the Lord comfort you and renew your faith in Him no matter what you are passing through!
Anyone who wants to do business with God must know that things take time. Everything takes time, God’s time. God created time although He lives outside of time – He is from everlasting to everlasting, He lives forever. That’s why you cannot say God is a hundred years old, or a million years old, or even a billion years old. He does not live in time. He lives outside of time.
However, for everyone created by Him to dwell on planet earth, time is an essential factor in doing business with God. And things take time with God, for God is never in a hurry to act. Sometimes, this brings us a huge sense of disappointment as we wait for the fulfilment of God’s promises: we often notice that time is passing and certain of His promises appear to us to be so time-bound that if they did not happen at a certain time in our life, we think they might never happen at all.
This is the situation that Sarah and Abraham faced as they awaited the fulfilment of God’s promise of a child, namely, Isaac who eventually came to be born 25 years after God had made the promise: Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham 100 years old! No wonder the Bible says in the Book of Hebrews11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Perhaps, the most important word in that whole sentence is the word “diligently”: it means to believe God in spite of the passage time; to believe God continuously in spite of things which will well happen contrary to the promises of God; to believe God even when you have doubts that what He has promised will happen; to believe God without looking for a sign of the possibility of His promises becoming fulfilled; to believe God simply because God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
I remember when I first read the Book of Revelation as a young believer and came to the sentence: "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” (Revelation 22:12) It was not long after that I had a dream and I saw Jesus arrive triumphantly, breaking gloriously through the clouds! I felt so certain that He would arrive that year in 1981. Listen, Jesus is still coming quickly, it is just that things take time with God.
Experience has taught me through joyful and sorrowful news never to expect God to be constrained to the ways in which we human beings understand time. The Apostle Peter has this to say: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) I think that sums it up excellently!
So what is God’s time?
§ God’s time for us is the prepared time!
Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. (Genesis 21:2) When Moses was in confrontation with Pharaoh, the LORD appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land." (Exodus 9:5) Job in his distress and sorrow pleaded with God to remember him according to the time that God Himself had set beforehand. (Job 14:13) The Psalmist cried out for God’s favour reminding Him that the prepared time for His favour had come. (Psalm 102:13)
God does not act in a hurry. He acts according to His prepared time, His set time!
§ God’s time for us is any time!
So that we never lose hope, God’s prepared time can happen any time. That’s why we must be prepared everyday for the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. God’s prepared time for the fulfilment of His word in your life can happen today, it can happen tomorrow, it can happen this week, this month, this year! Never say it will not rain because there are no rain clouds! He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
God’s time for us is the best time!
God can never make a mistake. He always picks the best time for His actions, even if it looks out of time to those who are watching. Joseph’s life is a story of God’s best time in action. The best time is also known as the fullness of time. When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. God makes everything beautiful in the fullness of time!
God’s time for us is covenant-time!
A covenant with God does not get cancelled easily, if at all. Once God has entered willingly into an agreement to bless you, as long as you keep to the covenant yourself, you can be sure that God will find “covenant” time (that is, “agreeable time”) to bless you. In the interim, you may have to pass through deep waters and strange fiery events. Your faith may be shaken, your rest disturbed, your life in turmoil. However, if you stick to the covenant, you can be sure that God will find the agreeable time to pour His blessings out upon you despite all the setbacks that you have experienced in your journey with Him.
God’s time for us is divine time!
“Divine time” simply means “holy time”. Anything holy is set apart for the use and purposes of God. Same thing with your life! As you place your faith concretely in Christ Jesus, through His blood shed for you on the cross of Calvary, God sets you apart for exceptional favours. In time, you may feel like Gideon in the cave: “Where are these exceptional favours?” “Where are the great acts of God that I have read about or heard about?”
If walking with God is like staying on “Disney Island” enjoying pleasures forever more without any sorrow or disappointment, everyone will believe in God! No, the reality is far different: when we walk with God, there will be times of sorrow, times of disappointment, times when we feel that God has let us down; times when we feel God has not cared enough; times when we feel God has not heard our prayers; times when we feel perhaps God is not powerful enough!
But, thanks be to God, if we persevere and hold on to Him, despite all the setbacks, we will discover that since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God like our God who acts for the one who waits for Him. Indeed: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." May the Lord comfort you and renew your faith in Him no matter what you are passing through!
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