God Is An On Time God! (Just Not OUR Time) – Part I

[Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

I have heard many people make the statement, “God may not come when you want Him, but He is right on time,” this is a true statement; however, it can be confusing to you if you have not received revelation about it.

As I was making my bed, God begin to deal with me about the Scripture where Lazarus had died (John 11:1-45). Lazarus sisters, Mary and Martha, called for Jesus days before he died to let Jesus know Lazarus was sick. But Jesus deliberately delayed going to Lazarus until after he died. Jesus knew if He did not go right away, Lazarus would die; God knows everything before it is going to happen. Jesus delayed because He knew He would perform a miracle and God would get the glory (vs. 4-6). Martha was upset with Jesus when He came and Lazarus had died; he had been in the grave for four days.

Why did God bring this Scripture to my mind? It was because I had just finished praying, asking Him to do some things for me which had deadlines. Also, God wanted me to clearly see, His timing is not my timing. In other words, what’s an emergency to me is not an emergency to God.

Although Jesus was late, on purpose, coming to Lazarus, in the end, it all worked out for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ good; foremost, God got the glory for the miracle. The first reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is so He can get the glory; in the end, it will work out for our good, whether the answer is yes or no. God said in Jeremiah 29:11:

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out –plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”(Message Bible)

So He knows what you need and when you need it. God has our lives already planned out. All we have to do is line up with His plans for our life, not the other way around; we must conform to God’s will, God does not have to conform to ours.

I know how Mary felt when Jesus did not come when she thought He should come. I use to get upset with God because things did not work out like I thought they should. Oh how foolish I was! Thank God for His mercy, grace, and love for me, which kept Him from striking me down. I would verbally scream and throw temper tantrums and say, “God, why did you allow that to happen to me.” I thought God was supposed to give me everything I ask for because I was His child; now I know better. God will give us what is best for us, not everything we think we should have. I now look back and say, “Thank God for not honoring every request I made to Him. And the ones He did allow me to receive, I wish He would not have; He tried to tell me but I would not listen. God might tell us, show us, or have other people tell us not to do something but the final choice is ours. He is not going to twist our arm to stop us from making a choice. But we must realize, there are consequences to every choice we make, whether good or bad. For every action there is a reaction (whether in the natural realm – you see it or spiritual realm – you can’t see it). And I paid dearly and unnecessarily, for the unwise choices I made. We know most of the time when we are out of the will of God because deep down in our spirits there is unrest. We might not know what it is but we know something is wrong. This is the time to honestly seek God for answers, not go on as if everything is alright.

The second reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is so our faith can be tested. James 1:2-4 says:

"2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." (Message Bible)

That “urgent” need is a trying of our faith. The test is not for God’s purpose, He already knows where we are, it’s for our purpose. I could not see clearly that I was not trusting in God for my financial needs until God allowed my false source to dry up; I immediately panicked at first. That’s when I realized, for years, I had thought I was trusting God to take care of me but I was not; I was trusting in that false source. Now, I am learning how to put my faith in God so I can really trust Him because you trust whatever your faith is in. If your faith is in people, you trust them; you look unto them for everything – they become your source and you leave God out. I used this example because that is what I did. I would run to people for everything – I thought everybody was my friend. I found out the hard way, everyone I met was not my friend; they saw the neediness in me and used me. Also, I did not know I was putting a curse on my own self. My Pastor, Gary L. Greer, Lisbon Church of God, taught a message about a month ago and used the Scripture in Jeremiah 17:5 which states:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord.” (NLT)

So when we put our trust in man and not God, we are cursing our own selves; and we wonder why we are not being blessed sometimes. Jeremiah 17:9 let us know no one knows what is in a man’s heart; but God:

“The heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (NLT)

Jeremiah 17:7 tells us what is going to happen when we put our trust in God:

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.” (NLT)
The third reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is to test your love for Him. Again, He already know how we feel, this is for our sake. God is asking you as He asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” Do you love God enough not to get upset with Him if that thing you are praying about dies before He answers? Once it does, will you say, “God You knows best?” or will you say, “Why did You let this happen?” Especially if your “urgent” prayer request is for God to heal a love one. Or if that “urgent” prayer request is to keep you from losing your home, car, or other material possession. No matter what request we are believing God to answer, He knows what He is doing. We get into trouble when we try to figure things out; when we lean to our own understanding.

We must allow God to work in us the way He sees fix. God wants to move one way but we expects Him to move another; let’s not be narrow minded. We give God permission to move in our life for our own sake; once we accept the will of God for our life, we will not be disappointed when things don’t work out like we thought they should.

God bless,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Dr. Hooks