Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you. Thanks so much for letting us come into your homes.
And if you're ever in our area, stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. Thanks so much for tuning in. Thank you again for coming out. I like to start with something funny. I heard about this elderly woman. She came to church one Sunday morning and a friendly usher met her at the back and said, ma'am, where would you like to sit?
She said, I'd like to sit on the very front row. He said, oh no, ma'am, you don't want to do that. Our pastor is very boring. He'll put you to sleep. Let me seat you somewhere else. She looked appalled. She said, sir, do you know who I am? He said, no, ma'am. She said, I am the pastor's mother. He hung his head in embarrassment and finally looked up and said, ma'am, do you know who I am?
She said, no. He said, thank God. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about trusting God's timing.
In life, we're always waiting for something, waiting for a dream to come to pass, waiting to meet the right person, waiting for a problem to turn around. And when it's not happening as fast as we would like, it's easy to get frustrated. But you have to realize the moment you prayed, God established a set time to bring the promise to pass. God has a set time for you to meet the right person.
There is a set time for the problem to turn around. A set time for your healing, your promotion, your breakthrough. It may be tomorrow or next week or five years from now. But when you understand the time has already been set, it takes all the pressure off. You won't live worried, wondering when this is ever going to happen.
You'll relax and enjoy your life knowing that the promise has already been scheduled by the creator of the universe. And some of you have been praying about a situation for a long time and you don't see anything happening and you could easily be discouraged.
But what if God were to pull back the curtain and allow you to see into the future and you knew that on February 12th at 2.33 in the afternoon, you were going to meet the person of your dreams. You wouldn't be discouraged. You'd be excited. You'd start working out. You'd go buy some new clothes. Why? You know the big day is coming. Here's where it takes faith.
God promises that there are set times in our future, but he doesn't tell us when they will be. Your set time may be tomorrow morning at 947. You'll get the phone call you've been waiting for. Your set time may be October 25th, two years from now. You'll get a good break and that will thrust you to a new level. My question is, do you trust God enough to believe that your set times are coming?
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Chapter 2: What does it mean to trust God's timing?
A set time where a problem suddenly turns around. A set time where you meet the right person. A set time where a good break thrusts you years ahead. That's what Habakkuk said. The vision is for an appointed time. It may seem slow in coming, but wait patiently for it will surely come. Notice not maybe come, not I hope so. No, God has already set the date.
The appointed time has already been put on your calendar. One translation says it won't be one second late. Sometimes we think, well, everybody's getting ahead of me. My friends are all married and I'm still single. My coworkers are being promoted, but I'm still stuck here. No, don't get discouraged. Your set time is coming. It is not going to be one second late.
And the good news is God knows how to make up for what seems like lost time. God doesn't always take us logically from A to B to C. Sometimes God will take you from A to B to C and then thrust you all the way down to S-T-U-V. What happened? You hit a set time that pushed you 50 years ahead. Now quit worrying about who's getting ahead of you and just run your race. Be the best that you can be.
Keep honoring God with your life. Keep treating people right. And God will get you to where you're supposed to be. That promotion, that healing, that breakthrough, that right person, they won't be one second late. Our God is not a random God. He's a precise God. He has lined up solutions for you down to the very second. I know a young lady that was believing to meet the right man.
She was in her early 30s and never really had a serious relationship with anyone. She was starting to wonder if it was going to happen. One day she was driving home from work and she had a flat tire and pulled over on the side of the freeway. In a few seconds, another car pulled over. Out stepped this young man, as handsome as can be. Went up to her window and said, can I help you?
She took one look at him and said, I think you can. He not only changed her tire, but he invited her out to dinner. Long story short, they ended up falling in love. A year and a half later, they got married. Today, they're as happy as can be. I see them at Lakewood all the time. That wasn't a coincidence. It wasn't a lucky break. That was a set time ordained by the creator of the universe.
Think about how precise God's timing is. The tire had to go flat at just the right time. An hour later and it wouldn't have happened. There had to be just the right amount of traffic. Too many cars, he'd been late. Too few cars, he'd have been early. He had to leave his work at just the right time. One extra 15 minute phone call and that would have never worked out.
The timing was down to the split second for it to all fall into place. What am I saying? You can trust God's timing. God has it all figured out.
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Chapter 3: How can we find peace while waiting for our prayers to be answered?
What you're praying about, what you're believing for, it's not going to be one second late. If it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean something's wrong. Doesn't mean God's mad at you. Doesn't mean it's never going to work out. God has already established the time down to the split second. You don't have to worry. You don't have to live frustrated. Stay in peace. Enter into this rest.
God has you in the palm of his hand. Your steps are being directed by the creator of the universe. Not randomly, not vaguely, no, down to the millisecond, down to the most finite, small detail. When you understand this, it takes all the pressure off. You won't go around wondering when something's gonna happen. God, when are you gonna change my husband? God, when are you gonna answer my prayer?
No, when you know the time has been set, you'll have a peace. Whether it's 20 minutes or 20 years, you know what God promised he will bring to pass. Here's a great prayer we should pray every day. God, give me the grace to accept your timing.
So I'd love to tell you that if you stay in faith, if you believe, then God will always answer your prayer within 24 hours or at least within the first week. But we know that's not reality. God promises he will be true to his word, but he never puts a timeframe on it.
Be a lot easier if God told us when we were going to get well, when we would meet the right person, when our child would straighten up. But the truth is that wouldn't take any faith. It takes faith to say, God, I don't know when you're going to do it, but God, I trust you enough to believe that you will do it. That the answer is already in my future.
The scripture says the vision is for an appointed time. The appointed time is the best time. God can see the big picture for our lives. He knows what's up ahead. He knows what we're gonna need, who we're gonna need, when they need to show up. If God did everything we ask on our timetable, it would limit us because sometimes what we're asking for is too small.
Sometimes the person we think we can't live without, God knows in 10 years, they're not going to be good for us. So he's closing the door right now. Sometimes the promotion we want so badly, if God gave it to us right now, he knows that would keep us from a much bigger promotion that he has three years down the road. God has the advantage of seeing it all. The longer I live, the more I trust him.
How many times have I looked back and said, God, thank you for not answering that prayer. God, thank you for not letting that person into my life. God knows what he's doing. And what you're praying about may be good, may be a part of your destiny, but it's not the appointed time. If there's a right time, that means there's a wrong time.
If it hasn't happened yet, instead of being frustrated, worried, God, when is my business going to grow? God, I'm so lonely. When am I going to meet somebody? No, have a new approach. God, you know what's best for me. You can see the big picture. I'm not going to live frustrated. God, I trust your timing. See, we're in a society that wants everything right now.
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Chapter 4: What are the set times God has for our lives?
Her feet started swelling. By the seventh month, her back was hurting. She couldn't sleep good at night. By the eighth month, she was saying, God, I want to have this baby right now. I am tired of waiting. But we know God has an appointed time. The child is not ready, still growing, developing. If God let her have the baby early, the child may not be healthy.
Sometimes we pray, God, give me this promise right now. God, I'm uncomfortable. These people aren't treating me right. God, business is slow. What we can't see is that something is not ready. Maybe it's another person that's going to be involved.
Chapter 5: How does faith play a role in trusting God's timing?
God's still working on them. Maybe it's another situation that's going to be a part of your destiny. It's not in place yet. Or maybe God's doing a work in you, developing your character, growing you stronger in that process. It's interesting. The scripture says God didn't take the children of Israel the shortest route to the promised land because he knew they were not prepared for war.
God could see the big picture. He knew if he took them the shortest way, their enemies would be too powerful and they would be defeated. So on purpose, God took them a longer route to protect them, to strengthen them so that they could fulfill their destiny. And if something is not happening on your timetable, remind yourself, God knows what he's doing. He has my best interest at heart.
I wouldn't be having this delay unless God had a very good reason for it. And while you're waiting, don't make the mistake of trying to figure everything out. God, I've been praying for my child for three years. Why won't he change? No, if you're constantly trying to figure things out, that's only going to frustrate you. Turn it over to God. Say like David, God, my times are in your hands.
I'm not going to worry about why something hasn't happened or worry about why it's taken so long. God, I trust you. I know at the set times, everything you promised me will come to pass. Sometimes when we get in a hurry, we make the mistake of taking matters into our own hands and we try to force things to happen. Many times we miss God's best. This is what happened with Abraham and Sarah.
God gave them the promise that they were going to have a baby, but year after year went by and nothing was happening. So they decided to try to help God out. Sarah came up with a plan. She told Abraham to sleep with one of her maids. That way they could have that baby. Abraham, instead of being patient, waiting for God's timing, he went along with the plan. And sure enough, they had a baby boy.
They were very excited. They named him Ishmael. They said, look, this is the child God promised us. But God said, Abraham, Sarah, that is not the child I promised you. That's something that you did on your own. Do you know Ishmael was a struggle to raise? They were constantly having problems, conflict. There was no grace for him. But understand what God orders, God will pay for.
What God gives birth to, God will always give you the grace to take care of. But when we birth things in our own strength, out of God's timing, then God's not obligated. 14 years later, at the set time, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the child that God promised them. Like Sarah, there will be times in life where it's not happening as fast as you would like.
You'll be tempted to try to force things to happen. Maybe in a relationship, the person you're thinking about dating, you know down deep they're not good for you. They don't treat you with respect, but you're afraid that you might not meet anyone else. No, if you'll let go of Ishmael, Isaac will show up. The one God promised you is in your future. The time has already been set.
Now be patient and trust God to do it his way. I learned a long time ago, God doesn't need my help. He's got it all figured out. He knows the end from the beginning. All we have to do is trust him. You don't have to try to force doors to open. You don't have to try to make people like you manipulate your way into a friendship, into a position. No, you just keep honoring God with your life.
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