God’s Timing is as Important as His Will
I can’t tell you how many times I have said that very phrase to someone. It has struck me over and over that God has good things for us at the right time. This is true in the story that we would call “the prodigal son” from Luke 15. In this story we see that “the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.” (v. 12)
Now, what he was asking for was something that would be his eventually. It was the will of the Father to give it to him, but he wanted it now. So, out of sync with the Father’s will he took it. And, by the way, the Father let him have it. We can’t get impatient with God. Of course, this out of timed inheritance turned to unruly living which cost him everything–”easy come, easy go”.
Yet, the story gets even more interesting because the older brother of this prodigal son waited on his inheritance. Daily he served the Father until the day that his Father would willingly give it to him. Here’s were it get’s interesting. While waiting for the Father’s blessings, he gets out of sorts with the Father. It begins to boil inside of him that his brother got instant blessings even though he was way outside of the Father’s will. And when this brother returned home, the Father forgave him and threw a feast celebrating his return.
At this point this older brother had “had it.” He begin to indict the Father with accusations of not being good or fair. Listen to the tone of his voice coming accross in his words, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.” (v. 29, 30)
It seems that he had gotten tired of waiting on the will of the Father. Had the Father changed? Was He not being fair? Was He not good? Quite the contrary, He was proving how good He was to have mercy on this runaway. It was the older brother who had changed. His perspective had changed from willingness to please the Father and have His blessings to the “why don’t I ge what I want” attitude.
But the Father let him know that His blessings were coming in time. “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” Beware that while you wait on God that you don’t doubt His goodness. Because, if you do, it will be you that changed not Him. God is still good; God is still right–and that never changes!