God created time but He is not bound by it. Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” God is also not obliged to follow our timetable because He has His own calendar of events. Daniel 4:34 “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: What have you done?” The amazing part is that God’s appointed times, times according to His plan, and His ways are for His people. We never have to question God’s timing or His plan. Psalm 33:11 “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Hosea 14:9 “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” When the young, arrogant and angry Elihu was questioning Job, he said Job 33:3 “My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know. 4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” He also said, Job 36:2 “Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said in God’s behalf. 3 I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker. 4 Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you.” As he went on and on trying to prove that Job was in the wrong, suddenly God steps in and says Job 38:2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?” Turns out that Elihu wasn’t getting his knowledge from God and he was not prayed for as Job’s friends were. God then said to Job, 3 “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” Job then responds and though blameless and had said nothing wrong, he accepted those words directed at Elihu and said, Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” The beginning and end of Job’s perseverance was God’s timing. If you are waiting on God and have been faithful to God’s word, you can be certain that there will be those like Job’s friends and Elihu who come along to try to get you off track and get you to curse God by turning away from His word. Don’t listen to them because God has a plan and purpose for you that cannot be thwarted and God, in his perfecting timing, will act. Having said that, make sure you are standing on the word of God and not on the words of man.

    When you listen to the likes of those accusing Job, it is not God who is speaking but satan who is trying to get you to turn away from God’s word, just as satan did in the garden and has done ever since. For those who do listen to the wrong voice and go their own way, God says, Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the obstinate children, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; 2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me.” Jeremiah was told Jeremiah 18:11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” God’s people would end up in captivity because of their rebellion. Following our own timetable is rejecting God’s plans and replacing them with your own. Obedience is waiting on God and trusting in His perfect timing. The book of Habakkuk started off with Habakkuk calling out to God. He said Habakkuk 1:2 “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?” Then at the end of the book he says, Habakkuk 3:16 “I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” The enemy destroying Israel and then the enemy being defeated all took place according to God’s timing. Waiting for God’s plans to unfold is obedience and God will keep His word to those who follow wholeheartedly. Numbers 14:24 “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Those who rebelled against God’s word, Numbers 32:11 “‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

    In God’s perfect timing, He freed His people from Egypt and led them into the promise land. The one thing that does interfere with God’s plans is disobedience and rebellion. Because the people rebelled against God, instead of going into the land of promise right away, they spent 40 years in the desert, and many died there. We have also seen this with the 2000 plus years that have gone by since the disciples were told Acts 1:7 “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Matthew 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus said the church would go to the ends of the earth with power and authority to do as He did, but man rejected that plan and decided to go with their own plans that are guaranteed not to succeed. Psalm 94:11 “The Lord knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile. Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” King Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel to come and tell him what to do, but he did not wait and lost the kingdom.

    If the church had followed the plan of God instead of their own plans, the return of Jesus (not the false teaching of the rapture) to take us to eternity would have been sped up. As Peter said, 2 Peter 3:11 “You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”

    Jesus came that we would have life in abundance, but man decided they would rather die. Repentance puts us back on course and we need to pray for God’s favor once again. 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” Isaiah 66:2 “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Because the church has rebelled, God allowed the abomination that causes desolation to decimate the church. It didn’t have to be that way, but God knew that it would. Deuteronomy 31:16 “And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.” Daniel was told Daniel 8:19 “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.” Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” Paul said Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” It did not have to be this way, but as scripture clearly shows us God’s people continually rebel against Him, but God is gracious and there will be a remnant of survivors. When God returns His favor to the church, in His time, once again the church will do as Jesus did. Psalm 69:13 “But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.” Psalm 102:13 “You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.” Isaiah 49:8 “This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, 9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’” Isaiah 42:6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Paul was told, Acts 26:17 “I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” The church was to continue this, but did not and turned away.

    Because the church disobeyed, now we are waiting for God’s appointed time to be released from our captors, just as the people in Babylon had to wait to return to the promised land. Because of their rebellion, Jeremiah 25:11 “This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever.” They then are given this hope. Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” As Daniel was told, there is yet hope for the church and although the church has rebelled, God will still keep His promise to David and Isaiah 59:20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.” Job persevered because he was faithful to his God. Job said, Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.” Job also knew Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” And then in God’s appointed time, Job was blessed once again. James 5:11 “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”