Welcome to Hustle in Faith. This podcast is dedicated to helping you find your trail to a happier healthier you by discussing topics regarding Christianity, health & wellness, beauty & so much more! I’m your host Tosha Johnson.
This is Episode 91. (Season 3 Episode 25) Timing is Everything!
My mind is always racing. Being a creative person can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing from the standpoint that you possess ideas that can be useful and bring joy to me and into someone else’s life. A curse because sometimes you may not have the resources to implement those ideas.
I’m constantly coming up with ideas, but due to time or money constraints, I’m not always in a position to immediately implement them. It’s always been a battle for me to have these delays and not allow them to frustrate me. Due to my impatience, I feel like God is moving in slow motion.
However, the problem lies within me. I’m impatient when it comes to fulfilling my goals. I want to see my creation come to fruition right then and there.
When I calm down and put things into perspective, I realize that sometimes, God gives us ideas and solutions ahead of time. Later down the road, He gives us the time, energy, and resources to implement what He placed in our heart to do. If we don’t put things into perspective, we would be under the impression that God is slow to act.
What we fail to realize is that God is not slow. He works ahead of us. I have learned that God provides us with ideas and solutions ahead of time so that we are ready when He gives us the time and resources to implement what He has already entrusted to us.
God is big on us not missing out on the journey. We learn more in the journey than the actual accomplishment. Through the journey of implementing our ideas and solutions, we learn the attributes of Christ such as patience, faith, and praying to include God in our decision making, etc.
Since I have learned that God is more concerned with our journey (learning), I keep a prayer and gratitude journal. I take it out whenever I need to remind myself of how far I’ve come. Yet, it also serves as a painful reminder that I could have gotten there faster with less frustration if I would have picked up on the signs that God was trying to give me.
In life, there are three possible answers to a problem. Yes, No and Not right now. It’s pretty apparent when God has blessed us with a ‘yes’. However, things get tricky when you’re facing a situation and the answer is ‘not right now.’ Why? At that moment in time, the outcome looks exactly as if God said, ‘no.’
Think about it. We don’t have the object we desire, so naturally, you assume the answer is ‘no.’ However, I’ve learned over the years, that many times this is not the case. If the desire that you are asking for is not going against God’s word then rest assured that if you didn’t receive an immediate ‘yes’ to your request then most likely the answer is 9 times out of 10, ‘not right now.’
Ecc 3 confirms that timing is everything to God. It may seem like it’s taking forever but remember to God that 1 day is like a thousand years, which means that He’s not in a hurry. Now even though God isn’t in a hurry, there are things we can do to place ourselves in a position that would reduce the time it takes for God to make our dream come true.
- Examine your life. So many times we have temper tantrums and wonder why God won’t bless us without taking time out to see if we have any sin in our life. You may feel like you’re a good person or you’re living your best life better than someone else, but we’re not the standard. The Bible is the standard. If your life is out of alignment with God’s Word then you need to address this first before you see any type of blessings come forth from Him.
If you’re having a hard time comprehending this concept, think about it this way, let’s say you want to play professional tennis. You want to win, but you’re not sure how to accomplish this goal. What would you do? You would make sure that you know the rules inside out, hire a coach and practice, practice, practice.
It doesn’t make sense to hire a coach that doesn’t know the rules or the ability to help you outsmart your opponent. Yet, many people do this when it comes to how they run their life. They seek counsel from people who couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag. Nor do these people have any true “success” stories that demonstrate that they know how to triumph over circumstances. The irony is that many people who seek guidance often do so from someone who is unqualified.
I think deep down, one of the main reasons this happens is because we secretly want to find someone who instead of telling us the truth, will reinforce the action we want to take in the first place. However, if you go to the Bible for guidance, it’s a lot harder to hide from the truth. We make life much harder than what it needs to be and it all boils down to the fact that we’re missing our next point…Faith.
2.) Faith. Having faith in God’s ability to answer our prayers is one of the hardest struggles Christians have to endure. However, how you answer this question will help you fight back against doubt, “Would you go out of your way to help someone who clearly does not have any faith in you? Absolutely not! Well, guess what? God feels the same way. How many times do we pray and then deep down secretly think, “ I hope He heard me” or “I hope He answers my prayer…”
If we’re not in sin and our request to God is not sinful, then we should be confident that God is going to honor our request. However, if we’re wavering in our faith then according to James 1:6-7 it shouldn’t be a surprise when God doesn’t answer our prayers. We are to view our relationship with him like a parent/child relationship. A good parent wants nothing but the best for their children. If the child is behaving well and their request is reasonable, that parent will do everything in their power to grant their child’s wish. Good parents take pleasure in seeing their children happy.
God works the exact same way. He wants us to be happy! However, we have to do our part and make sure that we don’t limit His ability to grant our requests. In Matt 13:58, God clearly informs us that our lack of faith will limit His ability to answer our prayers. He has nothing to prove. Therefore, God will NOT waste His time showering us with blessings if we don’t believe He wants to nor has the ability to do so. Many times we lack faith because we don’t have patience.
3.) Patience is another area that we struggle in because like children when we want something or a situation to change, we want it to happen right now. Life doesn’t work that way. If we know we’re not in sin, what we’re asking for is not sinful and we’re demonstrating faith in God’s ability to answer our prayers then we need to be patient.
I know it’s easier said than done, but we can’t expect God to be on our timetable. Regardless of whether we like it, time is measured by using God’s watch–not ours. After all, He created us not vice versa. God already told us that 1K years is like one day to Him (2 Pet 3:8). Meaning, He’s not in a hurry y’all! If there’s something that He wants you to have then He’s going to get it to you no matter what. God is in charge.
Case and point, in Daniel, prayed to God in order to gain an understanding of a vision he had. He didn’t get an answer until 24 days later. Why? Even though God answered immediately answered and granted Daniel’s prayer; sometimes, it takes longer for the answer to materialize due to unseen obstacles occurring in the spiritual realm like in the case of Daniel.
The angel that had been sent to provide Daniel with the answer to his prayer was stuck fighting for 21 days against the king of Persia aka a demon. This demon was so bothersome that the angel had to call in Michael, one of the chief angels to help defeat the demon. Had Daniel decided to give up, this angel would have done the same thing. That sounds harsh, but if you aren’t willing to fight why should God bother? He already said that He would give us the desires of our heart if we obey Him. Keeping the faith is one of those rules.
Again, this is one of the main reasons why I keep a prayer and gratitude journal. It helps keep me honest.
Hopefully, by now you have a better idea of how you can handle your prayer request in the event that God’s answer to your request is, “ Not right now.” Keeping the aforementioned in mind will place you in a position to reduce the time it takes to answer your prayer. If you’re living a righteous life and still feel like you don’t have an answer, then remember that there are obstacles taking place in the spiritual realm that are causing the delay in the manifestation of your request.
Regardless of what the hold up is in you receiving your blessings, recognize the fact that God is a just God. He’s a parent that takes pleasure in giving His children the delight of their hearts provided His children are willing to exercise the type of faith that has the power to overcome any obstacle that Satan sends our way (1 John 5: 4).
Thanks so much for listening to today’s episode. Don’t forget to check out the Prayer and Gratitude Journal for Men and Women of Faith that is available for sale on Amazon.
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