Skip to main content
Search DONATE

Inspiration

Just Ask Moses About Waiting
By Joel Osteen - Jul 21, 2017

 

None of us like to go through waiting periods, but we all have things we're waiting on—for a dream to come to pass, for our health to improve, to meet the right person. We know God put the promise in our heart, but we wonder why it's taking so long to happen. The Scripture says, "For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time" (Habakkuk 2:3 AMP). If there's a right time, that means any other time is the wrong time. If you don't understand that God will always be right on time, the waiting periods will cause you to be frustrated. But you can only receive the promise within God's timing. He knows when you're ready, when it's the right person, when to open the door, when to turn it around. If it's not happening yet, be mature enough to say with David, "[God,] my times are in your hands" (Psalm 31:15 NIV). Trust His timing.

The Scripture says it is "through faith and patience that we inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12 NKJV). It's easy to have faith for your dreams, but faith without patience will get you into trouble. Just ask Moses. As a young man, he knew he was supposed to deliver the Israelites. He had the promise, but he didn't have the patience. He got in a hurry and killed a man who was mistreating a Hebrew slave. His heart was right, but because he was out of God's timing, he had to flee for his life and spent forty years waiting in the desert.

Psalm 106:13 (NIV) says, "They…did not wait for his plan to unfold." What you're believing for may be taking longer than you think. You're not making progress, not seeing dreams come to pass, but God knows what He's doing. Don't try to force things to happen. You don't have to promote yourself and manipulate people and convince them to like you. You should be persistent, be determined, but you don't have to beat down a door. At the right time, things will fall into place, the right people will show up, the problem will turn around. Now do your part and trust Him—your times are in His hands. Wait for the God who created the universe to unfold His plan for your life.

Join the Conversation
Comments