I’ve heard it said that God makes all things beautiful in his time. But that’s not the only thing he does in his time. In his time, he fulfills his promises. This is something we see played out in the lives of many in the Old Testament.

Let’s take a look at Father Abraham. You know, the one who had many sons but didn’t have any for a very long time. He was promised descendants as numerous as the grains of sand. I’m sure there were times he wondered how that was possible when another year passed with no child. They even tried to find their own way to make it happen, but that didn’t work out so well. We have the Bible that declares God’s promises and assures us that He will fulfill what He has promised. Abraham didn’t have any such book. He had faith that God would answer. His faith was surely tested during the many years of waiting. God did fulfill His promise to Abraham in His own time. And what was God’s time? When Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90. Well past the age of fertility. It was so hard to believe that Sarah laughed when she heard the news that she would be having a baby. Who can blame her? She was an old woman finding out she was going to have a baby. I’m sure it seemed funny and hard to believe. Kind of ironic, really. Yet still, despite their attempts to manipulate God into answering and having to wait so very long, God did fulfill His promise at the hour he appointed.

God promised to deliver His people to the promised land. I’m sure they thought they would leave Egypt and go straight to this land of promise. Instead, they spent 40 years wandering in the desert. I know they wondered because of their own lack of faith and choices, but the timing for when to entered was determined by God. He said that generation would have to pass away before He would allow the people to enter, and that’s exactly what happened. Moses was numbered among those who were not allowed to enter. He got to stand on a mountain and look into the promised land, but he wasn’t allowed to go in. How heartbreaking! However, what God says He will do, He does, and this is a prime example of God following through as He said. The timing was completely up to Him.

Joseph as a young man dreamed of grandeur. These stocks of wheat that were represented by his brother bowed down. The promise of what was to come was in his mind as a very young man, yet it wasn’t till much later after being thrown into the pit by his brothers. Then being sold as a slave. Then as a slave dealing with mistreatment and false accusations being imprisoned. Until finally he was raised up in a position in Pharoah’s household. Even then the dreams and visions didn’t come to fruition not until the drought. Which brought his brothers to Egypt to ask for food. It was only then in God’s timing that what the enemy meant for harm God meant for good.

Joseph, as a young man, dreamed of grandeur. He imagined his brothers’ stocks of wheat bowing down to his own. In another dream, he saw the sun, moon, and stars bowing to him.  From a young age, he vividly envisioned what was to come.  Yet, it wasn’t until much later, after being thrown into a pit by his jealous and angry brothers, callously sold as a slave, and righteously enduring mistreatment and false accusations that led to imprisonment, that his dreams began to take shape. Eventually, he rose to a position in Pharaoh’s household. Even then, his dreams and visions didn’t come to fruition until the drought brought his brothers to Egypt seeking food. It was only then, in God’s timing, that what the enemy meant for harm, God turned into good. His dreams were fulfilled at the time the Lord planned for them to come to pass.

The entire nation of Israel was promised a Savior, and David was assured that the Savior would come from his lineage. Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah’s birth roughly 700 years before Jesus was actually born. Others, like Micah, predicted Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, about 800 years before his birth. The point is, God made a promise to send a Savior and made many promises about how the Savior would come. All God’s people waited a long, long, long time. So long, in fact, that many stopped believing he was coming. Even those who still believed didn’t recognize the fulfillment of the many promises. God did send Jesus, but it was when he willed it. Everything comes in His time, even Jesus.

Time and again, we see in the lives of those in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament that God moves in His time. Will He keep His promises? Absolutely. God is not a man, and He cannot lie. What He says He will do, He will do. The key here is to understand that He does it in His time. We have to wait and keep believing.

This is not the news you might want to hear. This is the lesson we would rather skip or pretend we didn’t see so clearly demonstrated in scripture, yet we know it is true. We don’t like to think about waiting for God’s timing, especially in today’s world where everything is instant gratification and immediate. There are very few things we wait for anymore. Our deliveries come quicker; our patience is very short. Yet, as believers, we are called to a patient faith.

This is one way God calls us to be set apart from the rest of the world. We don’t sit at the proverbial table of life, banging our utensils and demanding that God bring us our food immediately. Instead, we sit and patiently wait because we know that what God has promised, He will provide. We understand that we might have to wait for it, but if He said He would do it, He will.

This is often the hardest thing to do. Sometimes, like Sarah and Abraham, we try to find our own way to meet the need that we know we should wait on God to fulfill. It won’t work any better for us than it did for them. Often our solutions only cause more trouble. Sometimes, in the waiting, people lose faith and make the same mistake the Israelites did when they thought the giants were too big, costing them 40 years of wandering and never stepping foot in the promised land. Whether we lose heart or manipulate, neither path is what we are called to as believers. We are called to wait on God’s timing.

No matter how long it takes, He will do what He said He would do completely. 800 years is nothing to Him; He already knows every moment and when every promise will be come to pass. Do you trust Him? Do you have a faith that endures the test of time? That believes even when it seems impossible because it feels like it’s been too long. I pray today that you will see and learn this lesson so clearly demonstrated in the lives of individuals in the Old Testament. If He said it, then you should believe it and wait for it. He will fulfill His word in His time. I pray for all of us to have the patience to wait on the Lord and to be renewed in the meantime.