Nobody likes to wait. We get frustrated when we go to an office to conclude some business and we have to sit in the waiting room until the person we have come to see is available. If we have a doctor’s appointment we become upset if the doctor is late. When we go to a restaurant, we want our food served immediately. We don’t like to wait even if it postpones disciplinary action. We would rather take our punishment and get it over with. We even get upset with God when He makes us wait. We pray and ask Him to grant us something or to resolve some problem and His response is, “Wait!”
Whether we like it or not, much of life consists of waiting. We do not always get what we want when we want it. Why is this so? Because there is often a right time for things to occur. What we want to happen might be a good thing, but the circumstances are not right. If we always received what we want, when we want it, it would not be for our good.
Jesus’ brothers once urged Him to go to a feast in Jerusalem in a blaze of publicity (John 7:1-5). However, Jesus refused to do so. He told them, “…The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.” (John 7:6 NIV)
The difference between Jesus and His brothers was that they were thinking in human, earthly terms, while Jesus was following a divine plan. The brothers’ thinking was, “If you want to become famous, this is what you need to do.” However, Jesus’ intention was not to become famous – His intention was to do God’s will. The time would come when He would declare Himself at a feast and confront the religious authorities. But this was not the right time. He would follow God’s timetable rather than that of a marketing consultant.
Because Jesus was willing to wait for the right time, He was able to become our Savior. Scripture says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6 NIV)
Sometimes we become discouraged because it seems that there is very little result from the work we do for God. Sometimes even the changes we would like to see in our own character and circumstances take far longer than we would like. Often it seems like God is not answering our prayers even though we are trying to do His will. Whenever we start to become discouraged we need to remember that perhaps the right time has not yet come. When the proper time does come, we will understand why it was necessary to wait. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)