“…At the right time, I the Lord will make it happen.” Isaiah 60:22 NLT

“Trust God’s timing!“

“God is working behind the scenes.”

“God has a plan You just need to trust Him.”

“God’s timing is always perfect.”

How many times have we heard these sayings or ones like them? How many times have they been said with the best intentions (or have we ourselves said them to others) and under the most pressing of circumstances? How many times were these “catch phrases” more discouraging than encouraging?

God’s timing is perfect, and He is always working on our behalf but as Isaiah 55 reminds us, His ways are not our ways. This means when and how He moves in our lives doesn’t always happen on our timeline or in a manner we anticipate happening. How often has God spoken a promise to you thar took years to come to fruition? Frankly, I am still waiting on His promises to come to pass in my life-especially a very specific on He spoke in 2022 and two specific ones He spoke to me this year.

We all know waiting can be hard, especially when the opposite of what God speaks to us shows up instead. When this happens, we’re left questioning what God is doing, where He’s at or if we even heard him correctly. Waiting can also be hard when we see everyone else living our promises. For me-that’s the hardest. When I see others getting the promises God spoke to me, I want to rush God’s promise and bring His word to pass in my own strength and my own timing. Inevitably I wear myself out trying and end up crumpled on my couch, sobbing in a state of hopeless and despair. Where patient endurance is needed, I grow impatient and want to bypass the waiting altogether. Especially when life throws really hard things right in the middle of all of it.

Today, I observed a man walking with a cane. As he walked, he would move his cane in front of him then take two steps to catch up to where he had placed his cane. I noticed how concentrated his steps were, almost as if he were shuffling in a controlled pattern. He didn’t seem in a hurry, nor did he display any frustration toward his lack of speed. He slowly repeated this walking pattern over and over, head down and mind appearing to be contentedly concentrated on each step. His speed was the pace of a leisurely crawl even though he was walking upright.

Although I was sitting down during this observation, I anxiously wanted to get up and walk around this man as if that would somehow help him speed up his walk. At that moment, metaphorically wiggling in my seat, I felt the Holy Spirit convict me. God used this man to show me that right now, His work in my life may seem like a leisurely crawl but no matter the pace, I am going to where God wants me to be. In this particular season though, God sets a point for me and gives me only two steps at a time to move toward it. This process repeats itself daily. I don’t know where this process is leading me, but I can trust that I will get to wherever it is that He is leading me. I believe this same process holds true in God’s delivery on His promises. I have yet to read about anyone hearing a promise from God and receiving it immediately after God speaks it. In fact, 2 Peter 3:9 specifically reminds us that “God is not slow in keeping His promises…” They simply happen on His timeline, not yours or mine.

Are you trying speed up God’s promises? If so, I pray this post encourages you to slow down, to let God lead and to only step as far out as His support is present. If God spoke a promise to you, it will come to pass. You just need to trust His perfect timing and let Him do it His way. Just as Isaiah 60:22 says, “at the right time, the Lord will make it happen.” In the meantime, patiently endure the waiting season.