I have been believing God for a bunch of things lately; praying, hoping, trusting, doubting, and praising. Yeah you might be wondering why doubting is a part of the list, that is because sometimes when we don’t see the result of what we are hoping for, then doubt creeps in. We begin to think that maybe whatever we are asking Him for isn’t His will or His plan for our lives.
“When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen.”
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Isaiah 60:22
Image courtesy of Pixaby
For the past couple of months, it is as if someone has been hounding this passage of scripture into my spirit. Most times when I open Instagram, I see a post with these words from Isaiah 60:22, staring boldly back at me. It is as if God is saying—Evi when the right time comes, I will fulfill all that you trust me for.
So I was serving in church this past Sunday in the children’s department. The kids in the second service did some arts and crafts activity, and some of them happened to remain behind for the third service. There was this little girl in particular who walked up to me saying that she doesn’t have a paper plate, while the other kids had plates. I went ahead to explain to her that they were there for the second service and participated in the arts and crafts exercise, and it was not yet time for us to do so in the third, so she should hold on, when it was time, I was going to hand her a plate. She went back to her seat, seemingly satisfied with the information I gave her.
Then about 10 minutes later she came back to me, saying the same thing, and then I told her again, “it’s not yet time, I will give you one, once it’s time for arts and crafts.” Then a light bulb went off in my head—ding! Ding! Ding! (Or is it an alarm? Anyway you catch my drift) God spoke to me at that moment through that little child. How many times do we go up to God, asking for something and He tells us to hold on? Hold on not because He doesn’t have access to our answers, hold on not because He is a wicked God, hold on, not because His hands are tied with something or someone else, but hold on, because the time isn’t right.
Sometimes we see others already enjoying what we are believing God for, and we wonder why God hasn’t given us our own yet. They seem occupied with the very blessings that we have been crying to Him about, but what we fail to realize is that everybody’s timing is different. Those people probably got there before us, and hence got to enjoy the activities in their own time. We somehow arrived late, or chose to show up at our own convenience and start crying out to God for something that He has already prepared for us, but just at a specific time.
Did I have access to what the little girl wanted? Yes! But was it the time to hand it to her? No! why you might ask, because it was going to pose some distractions if I had given it to her at when she requested it, then she would have gone ahead to play with it, and not pay attention to what the teacher was saying in class. Now did I hand it to her when the time was right? Absolutely! Because there was no other reason for me to withhold it from her, the class was over and it was now time for play!
This message reminds me of the story of the first miracle Jesus performed in the Bible. He was invited to a wedding together with His mother and disciples, and sometime during the ceremony, they ran out of wine. Jesus responds in John 2:4 when His mother came to inform Him that there was no more wine, saying—“dear woman, that’s not our problem, my time has not yet come.” But when the time eventually came, He instructed His disciples to fill up some jars to the brim with water, and serve it to the master of the ceremony. At some point between when they got that divine instruction and headed to where the master of ceremony was seated, a miracle took place.
God works in isolation, which simply means that when the change is taking place, we may not be able to see it, but that doesn’t mean He is not at work. It is just like when a baby is taking shape in their mother’s womb, or when growth happens in the human body, nobody really sees the process, but we see the results, and we rejoice for it.
“Until it was time for the Lord to fulfill His faithful promises to Joseph, He tested his character.”
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Psalm 105:19
God values time a lot, time is His most valuable asset. Just because He hasn’t handed us what we are asking for, does not mean it is not in the cards for us. Sometimes He takes longer (as in the story of Lazarus), or He acts immediately like the countless miracles Jesus performed in the Bible. Our job is to trust that He knows what He is doing at all times. Some people may believe God for a better job, maybe God is using where you are to develop your character, hold on.
You might be trusting God for a child, maybe God wants you and your spouse to become financially stable so you can give that child all that they need, without breaking a sweat, He hasn’t forgotten about you. Is it a boyfriend/girlfriend or a spouse? Maybe God is making some changes in that individual, so when you guys finally come together, you will fit perfectly like hands inside a glove, trust Him.
Whatever we need, is readily available, but maybe the time isn’t right yet. Instead of coming back to Him a hundred times or second time like that little girl, who didn’t know that in just another 30 minutes, she was going to be handed her own plate, how about we start rejoicing and praising Him for what He is about to do! And at the right time, nothing can stop it from coming to pass, because God has said that He will make it happen!
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About The Author: Evi Idoghor is a Christian, writer, and content creator on Letstalknationblog.com. She is a chemical engineering graduate from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Consumed by her love for writing and desire to effect change, she launched her online platform––Let’s Talk Nation––to tap into her creativity and start meaningful conversations that would make a difference around the world.
Most of her writing has been influenced by her time spent in America, where she lived for about 11 years. Also, she lived in Nigeria and South Korea and currently loves traveling the world while learning about other fascinating cultures. You can find her on all social media platforms with @eviidoghor.