whATTRIBUTES: Attributes of a Loving God
PATIENT ONE
February 11th, 2022
Psalm 31:15a, ‘My times are in Your hand.’
Throughout the entirety of the Bible, we see God’s timing work out perfectly…in the end. And in the last days, we can be assured, His timing will be perfected…in the end. There will come a time when every knee will bow and every voice will proclaim His Majesty and all of life will stand at attention as each puzzle piece fits into place. A Holy God with a righteous dream, and someday [soon], I believe it will come true, to fruition, to pass.
We sat while Martha and Mary held their breath, waiting for whom they believed to be the Savior of the world, to arrive, to save their brother. I wonder what that disappointment felt like in their chests as every second slid by on the sundial on the ground; as moments did not turn into miracles and ticked instead sadly past, with no arrival of their trusted friend, Jesus; as the stench grew not only in the tomb but also in the hearts of those who hoped. Betrayal has a certain smell, doesn’t it? And Martha knew it better than anyone else. Despite decomposition, Martha recognized Jesus’ power here on earth but wasn’t likely considering a promise He could honor outside of the realm of time. Instead, Jesus tarries another couple days, His friend passing in His absence. But wasn’t God’s timing perfect and perfected in the end?
What would you have done had you been the friend who could have rescued Lazarus, even rescued Mary and Martha from their grief? I would have rushed there, ahead of their begging and insistence, eager to save a friend, save the day. But trusting in God’s timing, and waiting on it, God’s perfect timing, and waiting on Him, teaches us something far greater than getting the end result for which we asked. It teaches us the possibility of sustaining trust, grown in the soil of fertile faith and nurtured by desperate hope.
God’s timing is impeccable. It is never early, nor is it late; however, it will always be right on time. Trusting His timing, while humanly difficult, can also be just as rewarding. We must understand that God thinks outside of time while all we know is time. Time governs everything in our existence from delays to deadlines to due-dates. But Isaiah 55 reminds us (verses 8 & 9): ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’
Because of God’s perfect timing, death walked out of a tomb and life took an enormous hopeful gasp. It reminds us that everything seen through God’s lens is much clearer when trusting in His timing to be fully revealed as we wait on Him. What we believe to be true, what we think as fact, what we hope happens, isn’t how our God motivates decisions on behalf of His children, but we whisper prayers generally wrapped in promises of time-sensitive detonations, tied up with dangling, explosive ribbons just out of reach. I wonder what it might look like for those of us who utter our trust in His perfect timing, if we rested in the truth that He is fully in control and has our best interest always at the beat of His heart.
Ex 3:13-14, ‘Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (NIV)
