201 of 365 - Time

​Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come… John 7:6a
 
​You can’t be famous if you hide like this!  If you’re so great, prove it to the world, Jesus’s skeptical brothers prod Him to go to Judea to the masses.

The parents of Jesus received incredible promises about their son prior to His birth. No doubt they also saw incredible hints of who He was as He was growing up. He had a calling, and He was exceptional. How would parents today respond? Enroll Him immediately in a highly selective & competitive gifted program? Hire private trainers to hone His skills?  Contact the best PR firm to craft His image?  Reach out to the acclaimed consultant? Ensure the world knows just how special He is.

But this isn’t at all how Jesus lived. His childhood was uneventful. He doesn't rush things. He spends quality time with people. He retreats to be alone and pray. He withdraws from attention and praise. He is patient and purposeful.

We live in a world of immediacy. Instant food. Instant communications. Next-day Amazon delivery. Instant gratification. And we expect the same from God, but that isn’t how He works. God gives us hopes, dreams, and passions, but He rarely gives us a glimpse into His timing. In the waiting, we begin to question and doubt. We begin to look to others instead of God, both for advice and comparison. We start to orchestrate things on our own. And before we know it, we are on a path waaaaay off course.

​God’s timing is perfect and purposeful. The waiting tests us. The waiting prepares us. The waiting grows us. The waiting humbles us. We need our wilderness time to fulfill our calling. The wait helps us to face what is coming that only God can now see. The sooner we come to peace with this truth, the sooner we will have peace. We don’t stop dreaming, rather we lean into the places and roles God puts us in, and instead of grumbling, we make sure we learn everything we can in them. We don’t waste one minute of our precious God-ordained waiting time. 
 
Questions: Are there things you have been waiting on for a long time? Do you try to force things to happen? Has it ever backfired? How can you know when something is God’s timing?