One of the important stories that illustrate the need to wait for God’s appointed time is the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. Elizabeth and Zechariah had no children. They had been praying for a child for many years, but nothing happened. Years rolled by, and Zechariah and Elizabeth were now an elderly couple. One day as Zachariah performed his priestly duties, Angel Gabriel appeared to him with some amazing news—Elizabeth was going to bear a son. Zechariah was beside himself and could not bring himself to believe the message. As a result of his doubt, Angel Gabriel struck him dumb until Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist.
What is the lesson in this narrative for us? It is that no matter how long we have been praying for a miracle to take place in our lives, it does not mean that our prayers will not be answered. When God does not answer our prayers with the urgency we want him to, we often despair that it will never be answered. Most of us, when we pray, we want God to answer us instantly. We are impatient. We have trouble waiting on the Lord. We want God to act on our timetable, but we forget that indeed God’s ways are not our ways, and his time is not our time.
It was Jesus Christ who taught us to call God our Father and to pray. Matthew 7: 7-8 tells us “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” So it goes without saying that God answers prayers, but how and when they will be answered are all part of God’s divine purpose and plan. We must resign to God’s purpose and plan in our lives as did Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42). Whatever we have prayed for, be it big or small, connects to divine destiny and purpose. When God answers our prayers, he does not do so just because of us, but he answers them in fulfillment of his divine purpose and plans. He answers them for his glory.
This is the reason why we must learn to be patient and to wait – “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14). Timing is everything. If something happens too soon, we might not be prepared to handle it with care and appreciation. As it says in Ecclesiastes – “There is a time for everything under the heavens.”
While we are waiting, we must be steadfast in the firm belief that God is never late. The truth is God may not come when we want him, but he is always right on time. God’s time is the best. Wait I say on the Lord.