Key scripture- “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son” (Genesis 18:14 NIV).

Have you ever been in a hurry and you end up behind the slowest person on the road? When that has happened to me I find my patience gets stretched to its limit, and I want to yell, “Move! Hurry up!”

It makes me think back to the times that I have approached God’s timing the same way? When God operates at a pace that displeases me, I find myself wanting Him to hurry up! This usually happens when I’ve prayed impatient prayers for a job, for a breakthrough, for a relationship to be repaired, for my finances to get in order, for a greater understanding of His Word, and for Him to show me what He wants me to do in a certain situation. I have even found myself reminding God that what I have prayed about needs to be answered by a certain date, as if He does not already know.

There was a woman in the Bible named Sarah, who also had trouble with God’s timing because she was past her prime and her child bearing years. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, felt impatient just like we feel impatient. After waiting 10 years for the baby God had promised her (Genesis 12-21), Sarah decided to help God hurry up. She likely reasoned, “Surely 10 years has been long enough for anybody to wait for God to fulfill His promise. Maybe I misunderstood Him or maybe He forgot.”

So Sarah gave her maidservant Hagar to her husband, and the two of them had a child. (Genesis 16:1-3). Even our modern-day reality tv shows don’t hold a candle to what ensued! It turned out Sarah’s “helping” didn’t help at all, instead it made things worse, and God’s promise still wasn’t fulfilled.

Fourteen years later, Sarah and Abraham had a visitor who reminded them of God’s promise, causing Sarah to laugh out loud and say, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12b, NIV)

Do you hear your disbelief and questions about God’s timing echoed in Sarah’s disbelief? “Now, Lord, I thought this would happen years ago. Aren’t You just a little late? There is no way that this can happen now?”

God answered Sarah’s question in a way that answers ours, too. “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son” (Genesis 18:14).

Less than a year later, Isaac, the child whom God had promised 25 years before, was born. (Genesis 21:1-3). God was not late. His timing was perfect. It was Sarah who had been in a hurry, but God called Isaac’s birthday “the appointed time.” (Genesis 18:14). According to the dictionary, “appointed” means “predetermined; arranged; set.” Isaac’s birth came at the exact time God had planned all along!

God may seem like He is slowing down your dreams, but He knows the entirety of your story from beginning to end. He also knows how your story weaves into the lives of others. You may be tapping your watch, but He is never late. He may seem slow, but He’s always right on time. God Himself holds the “appointed time” for you in His hands.

Has God made a promise to you that seems delayed? Has He planted a dream in your heart that has not yet come to pass? Have you been praying a long time for a breakthrough? I admit I’ve struggled with impatience, but let’s stand together in confident hope! God is faithful, and we can rely on His perfect way and perfect timing. So keep praying, don’t give up, and don’t lose hope. God is doing a thousand things behind the scenes right now that you cannot see for your “appointed time”.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, sometimes I don’t understand Your timing. Sometimes it is so hard to wait, but I trust You. I don’t want my lack of patience to cause me to run ahead of You, instead I want to rely on Your ways, and Your perfect timing. Forgive me for getting frustrated with the wait, and discouraged when I think it is taking to long. I know that I don’t see the beginning and the end, but You do. Father, You are worth waiting for, and that is why Lamentations 3:24-26 calls us to hope in and wait for the Lord because You use the times of waiting to refresh, renew, and teach us. I want to make good use of my waiting times by discovering what You are trying to teach me in them. Help me learn what I need to learn as I wait, and help me resist rushing Your plan. I want to be able to proclaim what the Psalmist did in Psalm 130:5, “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (NIV). In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Credit: The Holy Bible
Genesis 18:14
Google Images

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