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Not Just God's Will, But God's Timing

by James Barringer  
11/16/2011 / Christian Living


Pop quiz: Why did Jesus come to earth?

Most of us could answer that question without even turning our brains on. We all know that Jesus came to earth in order to be "the propitiation [total payment] for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). God sent him here in order to live a perfect life and die a death he didn't deserve, so that God could punish him for our sins instead of punishing us. Through his death and resurrection, and our subsequent forgiveness, we can have a relationship with God. That's the essence of the gospel message.

So why did Jesus pass up the chance to fulfill his God-given mission?

John 7 leads off by saying, "After this, Jesus spent time in Galilee, avoiding Judea, because the Jews there wanted to kill him." Well, come on, Jesus! God's purpose and calling on your life is unavoidable: you came to earth in order to die. Here's your chance! These people are ready and eager to do exactly what God put you on this earth to accomplish. Why are you outright refusing to go along with the plan? After all, a pastor once told me, "Delayed obedience is disobedience."

Jesus' answer is straightforward: "You go up to this feast. I am not going, because my time has not yet fully come" (7:8). Just to hammer the point home, John adds in the next verse, "After saying this, Jesus remained in Galilee."

Huh. That's not what I've always heard about God's will. I'd been under the impression that, once you know what God's will is, you'd better do it. Delayed obedience and all that. But it seems that there was something more important to Jesus than God's will, and that is God's timing.

This isn't a one-off occurrence, either. As early as John 2, we can see the same theme popping up at the wedding in Cana. "Jesus was at the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, Mary said to Jesus, 'They have no wine.' Jesus said, 'What does this have to do with me? My time has not yet come'" (2:4). There was nothing wrong with Mary's request, except that it came at the wrong time. It was God's will, but the time hadn't yet come for it. So it seems we're really dealing with two variables here: not just what God wants, but exactly when God wants it done.

Have you ever spent a season of your life wondering what God wanted you to do? And once you found out what God wanted you to do, what was your reaction? I don't know about you, but my normal reaction is to make a beeline straight for it. No waiting, no hesitation. God has spoken and I'm on the move. Yet I wonder if this is more of an American cultural value than it is a Biblical truth. I don't see "delayed obedience is disobedience" in the Bible, but I do see Jesus refusing to be killed, even though it's what he came to earth for, because the timing wasn't right.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn't show you his will before you need to know what it is? I think this idea of God's timing explains why: we can't handle foreknowledge most of the time. I know, from my own personal experience, that when God reveals something that he wants me to do, I start preparing for it immediately. If the preparations go well, I'll start actually doing whatever it is immediately. You can see how that might be disastrous if God wanted me to be a missionary ten years from now. If he told me that today, I'd spend a couple of weeks researching mission fields, another few weeks allying myself with a missionary group like YWAM or the International Mission Board, maybe a semester taking seminary classes or evangelism lessons, and then I'd be ready to go. Seven months from the original call, I'd be prepared to be a missionary, and I'd spend the next nine-plus years chomping at the bit - or, worse, decide that I was ready, and go on ahead before the right time. I know it, and God knows it. That's why he doesn't tell me stuff ten years in advance. I don't know about you, but unless you're one of the most patient people on planet earth, I bet you function the same way.

Here's something else to consider. There's a low-level controversy regarding seminaries, and whether it's good or necessary for a person who's been called to the ministry to go to seminary and learn how to be a preacher. I've heard people say, "If God calls you to be a preacher, don't waste four years in school; just go!" These people are obviously from the "delayed obedience" camp. They have no concept of the fact that a call to be a preacher does not mean that you're called to be a preacher tomorrow. It is never unwise to spend time learning how to do the thing God has called you to do, but if you don't understand God's timing, you might end up rushing into something unprepared because you're in so much of a hurry. All we have to do is look at the apostle Paul, who saw Jesus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) and immediately shuffled off to Arabia for three years of solitude to learn from God directly. When he got back to civilization, he spent fourteen years (!) learning under the other apostles before he ever took it upon himself to teach or be a missionary. The total gap between his conversion and the beginning of his apostleship was 17 years (Galatians 1:17-2:1). Why? Because timing matters to God. If you think God is telling you to get married, he doesn't mean to throw caution to the wind and get married tomorrow to a girl you've been dating for two days. If you think God is telling you to have kids, he might not mean nine months from tonight. You have to talk with him further and find out about his timing.

Here is the essence of what I am trying to say: God's will, at the wrong time, is not God's will. Even Jesus was willing to delay his execution because the time wasn't right; even Jesus defied his own mother's request for a miracle because the time wasn't right. When God tells you what he wants, it doesn't mean go do it as quickly and recklessly as you can. It means go back to him and keep asking when he wants it done. Maybe it's something you have to spend a couple of years preparing for; maybe he's just giving you a taste of something he plans to give you in the future. Maybe he's just testing you, dropping a call into your life so that you can see how much you're really willing to shatter your life for his sake. You'll never know any of that if your ears clog up the moment the call arrives and you don't bother to clarify the timing.

Something tells me that if we were better at understanding his timing, at hearing his purpose without rushing ahead like kids on a sugar high, he'd probably be more willing to tell us stuff before the last minute. Jesus is perhaps the best example of this; he came to earth with the full knowledge of his purpose already in mind, but he had the discipline and self-control to hold off until the precise moment when the time was right. I think the reason God hasn't told me - or probably you - his plan for forty years from now is that he knows we don't have Jesus' grasp of timing. But the good news is that we can learn. The next time God tells you his will, make a special effort to go back to him and clarify the timing. Don't fall into the "delayed obedience" trap and rush full-speed ahead. Prove to him that you can be trusted with advance knowledge, and maybe he'll start telling you things a month, a year, ten years in advance. You prove this to him by taking this knowledge that he gives you, this knowledge of his will, and sitting on it until you're sure when he wants you to accomplish it. Then, in his proper timing, you do it, because God's will at the wrong time is not God's will.

We often speak about this American "culture of instant gratification" as if it's something which doesn't apply to the church, but based on the way I've approached God's will my whole life and based on the things I've heard other people say about it (the "delayed obedience" folks and whatnot), it seems like we approach God's will the same way. I find out what his will is, and I want it now. But God is showing me that he doesn't work this way. After all he's the one who said, "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." How's your waiting game lately?

Jim Barringer is a 38-year-old writer, musician, and teacher. More of his work can be found at facebook.com/jmbarringer. This work may be reprinted for any purpose so long as this bio and statement of copyright is included.

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