When is God’s Right Time?
Isaiah 60:22: “When the time is right, I, the Lord will make it happen”.
Have you ever been at a place of expectance, and you truly believed God was going to deliver what you asked for, and then you ended up not receiving what you hoped for? That has been my life for the past five months. The walk on my salvation journey has been beautiful yet so breaking. There are days when I wake up so hopeful and full of faith. However, some days, I wake up weary, with the Spirit of heaviness looming over me. I have believed God, questioned Him, doubted Him, and yet today, I stand here giving a testimony of how good God has been. My desire to see God deliver His promises over my life according to my timeline has made me question God’s power whenever I end up disappointed. [Jeremiah 29:11-14: And the Bible says, For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. You will find me, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive]. I do not know why I question God when He has promised me a future and hope. I do not know why I let my doubts rob me of my blessing. And every time I break, I keep reminding myself that my King is risen, and even though I can’t see the promise, I will still believe Him because what He says is as good as true. He has promised to deliver me from my captivity as long as I seek Him with my whole heart. And it is not easy to seek God when you are drowning. It is not easy to sing His praises when the trials of life overwhelm you. But one thing I tell my heart daily is whether God says yes to my requests, whether He says no, or He says wait, the one thing that doesn’t change is His Glory. God was, still is and will forever be worthy of all the praise and worship. I have decided that I will praise Him at my darkest hour, and when I finally hold the blessing in my hand, I will testify of the battles we have won together. I remind my soul every day that He is the God of the hills and valleys and gives me every joy and pain, yet through it all, He will remain. Today, I felt so weary, yet my Spirit prompted me to write this so that anyone going through storms and feels like they have hit rock bottom, I am here to remind you that you are not alone. You are God backed, and may He strengthen you till you reach your promised land. Every time you want to question God’s plan, remember that when God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, there was a shorter path that they could have used, yet God took them through the wilderness where they encountered the Red Sea. [Exodus 13:17-18]. God knew they were not prepared lest the Philistines followed them and fought them, or worse, return them to Egypt. I am reminded that God knows us better and acknowledges our weaknesses. God considers every minor detail concerning our lives when He makes decisions. The Israelites did not know the implications of that shorter route, yet God knew. This explicitly depicts the nature of our God. He loves us immensely and always protects us from unknown battles. When reading this part of the Israelites’ story, we often concentrate on how God demonstrated His power by parting the Red Sea, which is amazing. Still, we overlook the greatest thing He demonstrated. God showcased His love in the way He protected the Israelites from the impending danger they couldn’t perceive. Yet God knew He had gone ahead of them and seen battles they could not see. In our daily life scenarios, the mishaps we encounter make us question God, forgetting that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways. [Isaiah 55:8-9]. However, even with all this knowledge about the nature of God, I often find myself in a place of doubt. I acknowledge how hard it is to hold on to the truth of God’s word. Today, God reminded me that my flesh may fail and give in to weakness; however, it doesn’t mean I am alone just because I am weary. The Spirit of God helps us in our weaknesses. And though we may be weary and not know what to pray for, the Spirit Himself intercedes us with groanings that cannot be uttered. [Romans 8:26]. This is the most crucial part I often forget when I wallow in my sorrows. I know I am not the only one who goes through this, and that is why I stand in prayer today and ask that God will always be reminded that we are backed up in our weeping season. May we always be strengthened by the Spirit of God when our flesh succumbs and fails us. And God’s right time is when we are at a point of full submission to His will. [Romans 8:28; And the Bible says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose]. To love God is to walk according to His purpose, and we only get to walk in God’s purpose by doing His will. We do God’s will by fully submitting to His authority when we let go of our plans and embrace God’s plans. This is the hardest part, and I believe I am not the only Christian who struggles to walk in obedience. The flesh fights God’s will, and often, my desires are carnal. [Matthew 16:25] Jesus says that following Him comes at a great cost of losing oneself, but the alternative is to lose one’s life permanently. We cannot follow God and yet have different desires from His desires for us. To truly follow God means surrendering to God’s authority without question. Sometimes, we fail and let fear creep in, making us doubt what we believe. We start seeing our situations from our lenses, forgetting that just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are the ways of God. We cannot comprehend His thoughts and often question what doesn’t add up to our logic. Remember when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were to be thrown into the fire, they did not question God, asking Him why He would let them be burnt. Instead, they confidently entered the fire, knowing God would deliver them. [Daniel 3:16-25]. This reminds me that God doesn’t remove our problems; rather, He walks us through the problems. In the fire, God protected the three men and delivered them. This is the submission that God has called us His children into. All God has required of us is to trust Him, and His outstretched arm will deliver us from every evil. When I find myself in trouble, I first try to pull myself out of the situation, and when I fail, I call unto God. Today, I acknowledge this weakness, and as you read this article, may our hearts be united in one prayer: that we will learn to turn to God first before trying to figure it out. We will learn to be still and let God fight for us [Exodus 14:14]. God is in our midst, and we shall not be moved; He shall help us, just at the break of dawn [Psalms 46:5]. Today, as I was trying to find ways to clear my debts, I failed miserably. I was so heartbroken, angry, and disappointed. Those debts have been overdue for a long while, and every time I think I am getting a financial breakthrough, I end up hurt. And each time I question God today, I remember that at the right time, God will make it happen [Isaiah 60:22]. When I got this revelation, I questioned God again, asking why that right time wasn’t happening in my life. I question when God’s time truly is, and I found out God’s time is when I fully give Him access to do His will over my life freely. God’s time is when I stop having plans B and C and rely on Him as my only plan. I felt led to share this with someone who was also questioning God’s time. When we question His timing, we hinder His plans for us. Thus, we unknowingly delay our blessing because when we try to figure it out, it is like competing with God to see who finds the solution fast. We are either walking in submission or rebellion. Whenever we fail to follow God’s will, we rebel against His authority. And God can not act unless He is the one leading you. My prayer today for all Christians struggling with obeying God’s will is that the Holy Spirit will bestow upon us the gift of faith. With faith, there is trust, and it is easy to obey God when we fully trust He has good plans for us. Plans to give us hope and a future and that He will not fail us. All God requires of us while encountering the mishaps in life is to be still and know He is God [Psalms 46:10]. When we let God’s will be done, He will bless us according to His timeline, which is God’s right time. And whilst God can gift us with the grace of speed and acceleration, remember that we can only attain this grace by obeying Him. God is a loving father, and His plans for us are prosperous. He has bestowed favour upon us, His beauty rests on us, and He establishes the work of our hands [Psalms90:17]. Whenever you trust God for something, give Him something to work with, and when you are at a dead end like me, and you have no idea what to give Him, give Him obedience. Obedience coexists with faith and trust, and remembering faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain [Matthew 17:20]. You may not have anything to give to God, but our obedience moves our Father’s heart. I pray for anyone in a hopeless situation to take on the shield of faith and trust in God. Within a day, Joseph became a prime minister [Genesis 41:38-45]. God favoured Joseph, and let’s not forget that He always walked according to God’s will. He was put in prison for a crime that he did not commit, yet he chose to trust God, knowing that God has a good future for him. That same God is the one we serve and trust for miraculous breakthroughs, and remember He has promised to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power in us [Ephesians 3:20]. All we need to do is to trust and obey. God’s right time is at our point of total submission.
God’s love is amazing, and His mercy surpasses all.