In God's Timing
As Christians, we are constantly taught to seek and follow the will of God. We are taught to pray, to ask for discernment, and to forsake our own plan to follow God's plan with complete faith. However, a lot of times, we are so focused on figuring out God's will that we forget to seek His timing. In John 7 and John 11, we are given two examples of how Jesus is so in tune with the will of God, that he faithfully waits for God's perfect timing to bring ultimate glory to God and so that the people would believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
In John 7:1-9, Jesus demonstrates how seeking God's timing is just as important as seeking His will. When the disciples are headed to the Feast of Booths, Jesus declines to go because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. He wasn't afraid of dying, but by being in step with the will of God, Jesus knew that it was not his time yet. The disciples had great intentions: they wanted Jesus to show everyone the miracles he could perform so that the people would believe he was the Messiah. This shows us that while our motive may align with God's will, it still may not align with His timing. So often, we will move ahead with something that is good and aligns with scripture before meditating and praying for God's guidance. If we fail to do that, we can move too quickly and stumble.
In John 11, Jesus intentionally waits far past man's timeline in order to reveal a miracle that only God could perform. When Jesus was told that Lazarus was dying, instead of using his own discernment and following his own desire to heal his friend, he was patient and obedient to God's call to wait. Jesus waited to come until after Lazarus was dead for four days. It was then -- only then -- that God could be the most glorified.
In John 11:15, Jesus says to the disciples, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe." Jesus was able to have joy in the wake of sorrow because he could be certain of the outcome. When we wait upon the Lord and are certain of His will, we can take joy in the fact that His timing is perfect and the outcome will be better than we could have expected.
It is so easy for us as humans to only see urgent deadlines. We can minimize the power of God by giving Him simple "asks" that would make life easier for us in the moment, but these small requests that momentarily satisfy our comfort are not what allow us to grow in faith or bring God the most glory. When we pray, we need to ask God to answer our prayers in His perfect timing so that we grow in patience and in faith -- and so that His name is ultimately glorified.
~ Kelsey Bekermeier
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October 14th Readings
JOHN 7:1-9
LUKE 9:51-56
MATTHEW 8:18-22
LUKE 9:57-62
JOHN 7:10-8:20
October 15th Readings
JOHN 8:21-59
LUKE 10:1-11:13
October 16th Readings
LUKE 11:14-12:34
October 17th Readings
LUKE 12:35-13:21
JOHN 9:1-41
October 18th Readings
JOHN 10:1-42
LUKE 13:22-14:24
October 19th Readings
LUKE 14:25-17:10
JOHN 11:1-37
October 20th Readings
JOHN 11:38-57
LUKE 17:11-18:8
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