Timing (2): Following God’s Plan for Your Life

See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on;
Mighty ones around us falling, courage almost gone!
See the glorious banner waving; hear the trumpet blow!
In our Leader’s name, we triumph over every foe.
Fierce and long the battle rages, but our help is near;
Onward comes our great Commander—cheer, my comrades, cheer!
“Hold the fort, for I am coming,” Jesus signals still;
Wave the answer back to Heaven, “By Thy grace we will.”

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In my last post, I mentioned that God has a specific timing for every event under heaven. He never acts too soon or too late. Every promise, every prophecy, every move of God unfolds according to His perfect schedule.

When we receive a promise from God, our first instinct is often to expect it will happen the next day. But the truth is, there is often an interval between when we receive a revelation from God and when it becomes fulfilled; a gap between the word is spoken and when the word is fulfilled.

During that waiting season, what God said can almost seem like a lie. But if it truly came from Him, we must hold on till we see the physical manifestation.

Habakkuk reminds us:

But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT)

The Teacher also declares in Ecclesiastes:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and die; A time to plant and uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-6 (NASB1995)

Purposes and Plans

God has a purpose for your life — the what, who, when, and with whom. You were not created to live aimlessly, but to fulfill divine intention. This idea is littered in both the Old and the New Testaments. If He has a purpose for us, it means that we are not meant to live for ourselves but to live to please God. 

Your existence is proof that there is a plan, and your waiting is proof that there is a process.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

2 Corinthians 5:15 (NKJV)

You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.

Revelations 4:11 (NLT)

Abraham’s Story: Waiting for the Promisej

God told Abram that he would become the father of many nations. At the time, Abram was childless. Frustrated and weary, he even asked God to make his servant Eliezer his heir. Instead, God reaffirmed His word: a child would come from Abram’s own body.

But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.

Genesis 15:2-4 (NKJV)

Years passed. Sarah, desperate to help, gave Hagar (her help) to Abram, and Ishmael was born. Still, God didn’t change His mind.

When Abram was ninety-nine, God appeared again — reaffirming His promise, changing Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah. Even then, Abraham pleaded that Ishmael might be his heir, but God insisted:

“No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.”

Genesis 17:9 (KJV)

And finally, at the appointed time, Isaac was born — when Abraham was one hundred years old.

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him–whom Sarah bore to him–Isaac.

Genesis 21:1-3 (KJV)

From Abraham’s story, we learn:

• God’s timing is not determined by our desire but by His divine plan.
• His promises are generational — they often look beyond us.
• The waiting season shapes us into the kind of person who can carry the promise.

Abraham’s faith journey wasn’t perfect, but his persistence made him a model of faith.
“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.”

Romans 4:20 (KJV)

Faith truly begins when the will of God is revealed. That’s where trust meets timing.

Jesus’ Story — The Fullness of Time

Jesus’ birth also reveals God’s precision in timing. Every prophecy — from Isaiah to Micah — was fulfilled exactly as ordained.

[25] And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
[26] And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
[27] So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law.

Luke 2:25-27 (KJV)

God had promised Simeon he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Christ. One ordinary day, the Spirit led him to the temple — just as Mary and Joseph arrived with baby Jesus.

At that same moment, Anna the prophetess, who had served in the temple with fasting and prayer for decades, came forward and rejoiced.

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years since her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Luke 2:36-38 (KJV)

Simeon and Anna waited their entire lives for the Messiah. Their stories remind us that God always fulfils His word and He is always on time.

When Waiting Feels Long

Brethren, Peter told us that God is not slack concerning His promise, i.e, He is not slow about His promise, but He is being patient for our sake giving us more time to repent.

See, God is not a wicked God. All things that we will ever need for life and godliness have been prepared already.

When we are expectant, God isn’t calling the angels and asking how He will come to our aid, because He has finished the work even before we got to the scene. He has finished every thing in time and He is not with holding good from us.

As Peter assures us:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)

God’s delays are not denials, they are divine preparations. While we wait, He works in us — shaping, pruning, refining. Sometimes, the delay isn’t about the promise at all, but about the person we must become to sustain the promise.

When we stop fixating on when and start focusing on who we’re becoming, peace floods our waiting.

Staying in Alignment

Every believer has a unique journey. We are not in competition with anyone else. So, instead of focusing on the when, we must also seek to be in alignment with God’s perfect plan for our lives.

The real goal is to remain in alignment with God’s purpose. This so important because when time ends and we stand before the judgement seat, it’s only the purposes of God that will stand. Nothing else will count.

If this is true, we must make up our minds to walk with God irrespective of what we see our neighbours doing. This means seeking per time what He has prepared for you.

God doesn’t forget. He returns at the appointed time. So, are you asking, “When, Lord?” or “What are You teaching me in this season?” It’s okay to ask questions — but never lose faith.

Before Isaac’s birth, God kept visiting Abraham, reaffirming His word. At the right time, He said:

“Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Genesis 18:14 (KJV)

When the time is right, God will return with fulfilment. The key is to stay in alignment, stay faithful, and stay believing.

“For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.”

Hebrews 10:37 (KJV)

Keep believing. Keep obeying. Keep walking with God.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9 (KJV)