Session 17

What you need to know about God’s timing

From Genesis: A 7-Week Devotional

How do you feel when you hear “in God’s time”? Frustrated, like you’ll have to wait forever?

Why do we assume waiting on God’s timing will require a lot of patience? We can’t know when God will act, but the Bible doesn’t indicate He takes forever to do everything.

In Genesis 24:45, Abraham’s servant was praying for God to clearly show him a wife for Isaac, and the Bible says, “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out.”

This was not just an Old Testament phenomenon. In Matthew 8:2, the leper said if Jesus was willing, He could make him clean. Jesus was willing, and the leprosy was cleansed immediately. In Matthew 8:8, the centurion said to Jesus, “Lord, say the word and my servant will be healed.” Jesus replied that it would be done for him and the man’s servant was healed within the hour. In Matthew 8:14, Jesus touched Peter’s sick mother-in-law and the fever left her immediately.

God can and does act immediately on our behalf. When Samantha brought her parents to NewSpring for the first time, her electric car battery died in the parking lot. She had recently started tithing and wasn't sure where she'd get the money to replace her battery. Samantha prayed, and God came through. Within days she found a battery for a quarter of the normal cost. The cost was still out of reach, so she asked God to provide the money for it. Within four hours, Samantha got an unexpected refund check for the exact amount she needed.

God immediately answered Samantha’s prayer to fix her car. He also used the situation to lead her parents to begin trusting Him.

Don’t limit God by conventional ways of thinking. He wants to bless us with more than we can imagine. Seek God and expect Him to move in your life.

Reflect:

• Have you seen God answer a prayer immediately?
• What is one need you have that you can ask God to provide for?
• Take some time to ask Him for it, and trust that He will provide.