Why is God Often So Slow?

July 10, 2018

WE HAVE TO LEARN TO OPERATE ON GOD'S TIME As you likely already know, God’s time is not our time. While God’s time may rarely be faster than our time, typically, it is slower. Often, much slower. God’s Time Often Seems Slow We see this repeatedly throughout Scripture.

Abraham: When Abraham was 75 years old, God promised to give him a descendent through whom would come nations. But it was 25 years later before Isaac was born! Abraham was 100 years old!
Joseph: God promised Joseph that he would rule over his brothers… yet it was 15-20 years before that promise was fulfilled.
Hebrews: the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt after Joseph died, and lived in slavery for 400 years before God delivered them through Moses. Wouldn’t 300 have been enough?
David: David was anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. Yet, rather than to be crowned the next day, David spent the next 7 years of his life running from cave to cave trying to keep Saul, the present king, from killing him because of the threat to his throne. And it was 14 years before he became king over all Israel.
Paul: On Paul’s conversion, the Lord promised that he would become an apostle to the Gentiles, yet it was years before that promise was fulfilled, with Paul living in obscurity and meeting with stiff resistance.
Lazarus: Lazarus’ sisters sent for Jesus when Lazarus fell ill. Instead of coming immediately, Jesus delayed, and by the time He arrived, Lazarus had been dead four days!

Indeed, God often does not operate on our time. Sometimes God’s “slowness” is merely an inconvenience or frustration. Other times, it feels life altering. At times, it seems that He is simply too late. He missed the boat! Abraham reminded God that he and his wife, Sarah, were already beyond childbearing age. It seemed that had God missed that boat. But He didn’t. Even worse, Lazarus was already dead! Surely, his sisters thought, Jesus missed that boat. But He didn’t. God doesn’t miss boats. If He keeps track of sparrows when they fall, and if He numbers the hairs on our heads, He is surely always aware of what time it is. 1 Peter 3:8 says, “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promises…” It just seems, from our perspective, that God is slow. But He has His plan, He not slow, and His promises never fail. Why is God’s Time Often Slow? We might wonder why God’s time is so different from ours. Scripture give us several reasons:

To bring glory to God. Jesus explained that Lazarus’ death created greater glory to God (John 11:40). And many came to Christ as a result of Lazarus’ resurrection (John 12:10-11).
To strengthen our faith. God was testing Abraham’s faith by delaying the birth of Isaac. Scripture says that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). Faith is the central issue in our relationship with God… so much so that without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
To mature our character. James 1:2-4 tells us that trials (and God’s “slowness” can be a real trial) make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing,” if we go through them in faith.
To increase our ability to minister to others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We can help others with the same help God gives to us during times of trial.
To increase our eternal reward. Romans 8:18 tells us that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us.
To increase our eternal position. Luke 19:11-19 tells us that when we are faithful at little things, God will give us greater things. And 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 tells us that we will, in heaven, judge the world and angels. So, as we are faithful to smaller things on earth, God will give us greater responsibilities in heaven.

So, rather than getting discouraged, frustrated, disappointed or resentful of God’s slowness, we can be thankful for the rewards that come to us when we accept God’s timing. As missionary Jim Elliot said, we can give up that which we cannot keep to gain that which we cannot lose. Conclusion The story is told of a man who asked an angel how long a million years was to angels. The angel said, “About a minute.” The man asked how much a million dollars was to angels. The angel said, “Like a penny.” The man said to the angel, “Could you give me a penny?” The angel replied, “Sure, in a minute.” We cannot manipulate God’s timing. Life doesn’t work like that. Indeed, God’s “time” is not our “time.” And rather than to try to manipulate God, which is always futile, we can submit, we can trust, we can live by faith. When we do, this life goes better, and we accrue disproportionately abundant reward in eternity. As C. S. Lewis said, we can aim at heaven and get earth thrown in.

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