I am one of those that expects things in a certain timeline. I know what I am looking for and have an idea of when and where it will be available. It does not mean that I am not patient, I just know and expect it. With God I have to remember that he is on his timeline and not mine.
“8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” — 2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)
I forget that God is way bigger than I am and His timeline with me is longer than I believe it to be. God lives in an infinite timeline and I am only seeing things based on the timeline I know, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. What I have to remember is that since God knows all and is working with all, what He has in store for me may be decades away. I have to be patient with Him and His timeline and lean on the fact that His timing is perfect.
I also have to remember that God is waiting on me. I have tasks to complete that He has given me and really, one of the first of those is to repent. God will not move on with me until I join Him in repentance, and He will wait.
“9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
God does not want me to end in the pits of hell, but He also is not going to force me to follow Him. He is waiting patiently for me to repent of my worldly ways and turn to Him. He knows the precise moment of my repentance and what is to follow that moment. I have to know that while I am waiting for God to act in my life, maybe He already has and I have just not seen it yet. Or maybe, He is patiently waiting for me and then He will provide for my ask. I do not know which it is and can only know that God’s plan is divine.
How then do I progress with this sort of stalemate of God and I waiting on each other? Well, I have to just move toward repentance and know that when I get there, God will be waiting with what is next for me. It may be what I was “asking” for, or it could be what He has next for me. I cannot know until I get there, and I will not get there until the repentance is in my heart and not just in my head. I have to be fully turned toward God so as to devote myself to Him and at that time, I will know what is next. God has been waiting for me and He will continue to do so as noted in verse nine above “not wishing that any should perish”.
What have you moved on from with God as a result of not being willing to wait on Him? Are you to impatient with what you expect from Him and forget about His timeline being drastically different than yours? What if you were to work at turning fully to Him in your heart, repenting and then accepting what it is that He as next for you?
Trevor's Thoughts 