October 16, 2025

When God’s Timing Doesn’t Match Yours

"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.'"
Jeremiah 29:10 (NIV)

Seventy years felt like a death sentence. Most of the exiles were already adults when Jeremiah's letter arrived. Simple math told them the brutal truth. They would die in Babylon. Their children would grow up speaking a foreign language. Their grandchildren would be the ones to see Jerusalem again.

The timeline crushed every hope for quick rescue. False prophets had promised deliverance in two years. The people had packed light, expecting a short stay. They refused to unpack their bags or settle in. But God's clock ticked differently than theirs. Abraham waited twenty-five years for the son God promised him, from age seventy-five to one hundred. Joseph spent thirteen years between his prophetic dreams and their fulfillment, from slavery at seventeen to power at thirty. The greatest men of faith experienced the longest waits.

God wasn't being cruel with the seventy-year timeline. He was being honest. The exile had a purpose that couldn't be rushed. A generation needed to pass. Hearts needed to soften. Pride needed to break. Lessons needed to sink deep into their collective memory.

Scripture consistently shows God's patience with time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time." Not in your time. Not in the time you prefer. But in His perfectly appointed moment. God sees the full story while you only see one chapter. He knows what needs to happen before the next season begins.

Surrendering to God's timeline requires our daily trust. You wake up wanting answers now. You want the promotion today. You want healing this week. You want the relationship to work out immediately. But God is working on a schedule you can't see. His delays are not denials. His "not yet" is not "no."

Godseekers, your wait is not wasted time. God is doing something in you during the delay that couldn't happen any other way. Stop demanding that God move at your pace. Start trusting that His timing is wiser than yours. What if the wait is the exact tool God is using to prepare you for what's coming? Your job isn't to understand the timeline. Your job is to trust the One who set it. Today, release your grip on "when" and tighten your grip on "Who."

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I confess that I've been frustrated with Your timing. I want things to happen faster than You're moving them. Forgive my impatience and lack of trust.

Help me surrender my timeline to Yours. Give me faith to believe You're working even when I can't see progress. Thank You that Your delays are purposeful, not pointless.

In Jesus' name, Amen.