“Execution is something, but timing is everything.” – Todd Stocker

“The affairs of God are accomplished little by little and almost imperceptibly. The Spirit of God is neither violent or hasty. He does all things in His time.” – Saint Vincent de Paul

“Those who leave everything in God’s hands will eventually see God’s hands in everything.” – Unknown

Since today is Throwback Thursday, I decided to post an article I wrote almost seven years ago – a message that resonates with me and the set of circumstances I face currently. I pray it resonates with you as you await God’s perfect timing within your own life my friend. Together, let’s trust in the certainty and sovereignty of our loving God and His appointed time!

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Habakkuk’s heart was broken. Every day he witnessed tragedy, violence, and injustice inflicted on the Judeans by the Babylonians.  Depressed and full of despair, he wondered why God didn’t step in – putting an end to the evil and suffering.

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrong?” – Habakkuk 1:1-3 NIV

Have you ever felt the same way?  Maybe it isn’t the kind of tragedy or injustice Habakkuk was dealing with in his life, but have you ever prayed for healing and it hasn’t come?  Have you longed for a mate, but there is no relationship in sight?  Have you asked God, the Instigator of all wealth, to help you with your finances, but there are no new opportunities in the foreseeable future and the debts keep piling up?

Maybe you prayed for a wayward spouse or child to come to their senses, but they seem to be getting worse.  Maybe you have longed to reconcile a broken relationship, but the distance between the two of you just keeps getting deeper and wider.

When you look at the questions or scenarios I just mentioned and you look hard at the character of God, we can say without a doubt that God is all about healing, intimate relationships, provision, bringing the lost home, and reconciliation. So, if God is FOR these kinds of things, why the delay?  Like Habakkuk, why is God not listening, responding or acting in a way that matches His principles and values?

I think we can find some answers to these questions in God’s response to Habakkuk.

“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of an end and will not prove to be false.  Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” – Habakkuk 2: 2-3 NIV

“For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” – Habakkuk 1:5 NIV

God is telling Habakkuk to wait for the appointed time – a time when the evil and injustice will end. He tells him to write this revelation down plainly – a symbol of commitment and assurance – restating that it will not prove to be false and will certainly come without delay.  He encourages him to wait for it, even though it lingers – trusting there is an appointed time for all to be made right.

Currently within your own life, what is awaiting an appointed time to be completed, to suddenly change or shift or to come abruptly to an end?   Are you waiting with a sense of expectancy – believing God when He says the appointed time will certainly come without delay?

Think for a minute about the very thing you long for in your life, something that matches God’s will and desire for you, something that aligns with His character, principles and values for life.  It could be healing, a relationship reconciliation, or provision that puts you in a position to help others.

God is telling us to embrace the certainty of the appointed time – having faith it will arrive within His perfect timing!

Don’t doubt the healing will occur.  It has already been scheduled to take place!  Have complete confidence that God has already supplied for your needs.  The appointed time for that provision has been established!  Believe and trust God has the perfect mate lined up for you.  The appointed time for your meeting has already been set!

God encourages us to wait for the appointed time even if it lingers – trusting it “will certainly come and not delay”.

I love the phrase “will certainly come”.  It makes my heart leap for joy!  God didn’t say it “might come” or “probably will come”.  No, the appointed time has been established!

The key is living with expectancy – never questioning that God has firmly established the appointed time for our needs to be met.  This kind of faith in God can move mountains that seem impossible to budge.

Why does God tell us to wait for the appointed time? How does the phrase “it will certainly come and will not delay” coincide with the idea that the appointed time might linger?

Waiting for God’s appointed time requires faith in God’s timing.  Often we get impatient and set out to change our circumstances on our own terms. 

We get involved with the wrong person out of impatience instead of waiting for God’s appointed time when the right mate for us will enter our lives.  We act instead of waiting for God to act.  When we set our own agenda, determine our own course, or become insistent on having things happen in our own timing; we risk missing out on God’s appointed time for meeting our need in His perfect way.

Here is where the phrase “it will certainly come and will not delay” fits in with the idea of waiting for what seems like an appointed time that lingers and lingers on.  If God is promising us the appointed time “will not delay”, He is letting us know that the right moment, the right timing, the perfect fit for our need is heading our direction just as fast and immediate as it can.  In other words, there is no delay in what seems to linger.  The lingering or waiting has purpose!  The appointed time is rushing toward us!  Any waiting or lingering fits within God’s PERFECT timing 🙂

Like Habakkuk, God is “going to do something in your days that you would not believe – even if you were told!”  

Your need, your God-given desire, your purpose-filled plans have an appointed time to be fulfilled!  It’s not a question of “if”, it’s a question of “when” 🙂  

The key is waiting for God – not acting on our own.  We must believe the appointed time is rushing toward us without delay – knowing with confidence any lingering or waiting has great purpose behind it.

May God help each of us as we patiently and expectantly wait on Him!

“Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day; in our time make them known”.

(Habakkuk’s prayer found in Habakkuk 3:2 NIV)