Good things take time and are worth the wait
If there is one thing that is certain in life, it is that all of us will go through seasons of discouragement. Things haven’t turned out as expected. God’s promises seem delayed. We were anticipating a different outcome. We are beginning to lose hope – or we have lost it entirely. In the words of Proverbs 13:12a, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
At times like this – perhaps, for you, that time is now – it’s good to remember that good things take time. In fact, very often, it is only through the process of time that God’s purposes for our lives can be accomplished and we can become the people He wants us to be.
But this makes perfect sense. As I wrote in my 1991 book, “Whatever Happened to the Power of God,” “There are no shortcuts with God – no techniques that will allow us to slip by without passing the tests. And while there are some believers who have had apparent overnight success without the proving of their character – their churches growing up in a few short years and their ministries filled with all kinds of supernatural gifts – God will not be mocked. Those who have not built right – because they themselves were not built right – will see their great works fall as quickly as they rose.”
Good things take time. And good things are worth the wait. Perhaps things are not off schedule after all. Perhaps the Lord is at work behind the scenes.
Many a pregnant mom has felt like the time from conception to delivery has dragged on forever. But every day is needed for the development of that child – and even for the development of the mother. God is doing His work.
Or think of it like this. The gestation period for a mouse is 19-21 days, and at birth, the mouse weighs between 0.018 to 0.053 ounces. That is what you call tiny. And it will only live to be 1 to 2 years old.
In stark contrast, the gestation period for an elephant is 19-22 months, and at birth, the elephant weighs between 170-250 pounds. That is what you call a big baby. When it grows up, it has virtually no natural predators and lives up to 75 years.
Do you want to give birth to a mouse, quick and easy, here today and gone tomorrow? Or do you want to produce an elephant? Good things – and quite often, big things – take time.
In Genesis 25, we read that “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.” (Genesis 25:21) So quick, so easy, so seamless. Boom! Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed. Rebekah became pregnant – and with twins at that, Jacob and Esau.
But when you read the text carefully, you see this: “Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah” (Genesis 25:20), but “Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth” to the twins (Genesis 25:20). It took 20 years!
How many times did Isaac and Rebekah grow weary? How many times did they question the divine promises? How many times did their hearts become sick?
Yet the promise was sure from day one and the purpose of God never wavered.
We waver. He does not.
Be assured, then, that if you yield your life to the Lord, holding back nothing from Him, and you determine to continue to seek Him earnestly until – however long that “until” might be – He will come through for you. Your “good things” will come on time.
And while it is true that Proverbs 13:12a says that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” it is also true that Proverbs 13:12b says, “But the desire when it is come is a tree of life” and that life will be truly abundant.
Halfway through the ministry of George Mueller, he had documented more than 5,000 instantaneous answers to prayer. Yet, by the end of his life, there were people for whom he had been praying for 50 years, and they were still not saved.
When he was asked if this discouraged him, he answered (and I paraphrase), “To the contrary, if I saw so many prayers answered instantly, how much will I see the prayers of 50 years answered!”
Be assured, then, that God is faithful, that your prayers are not in vain, even if they are not answered in the manner or time frame you expect, and that His purposes for your life are more wonderful than anything you could imagine.
“Faithful is He who called you, and He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Amen!