Late, Yet On Time!
Have you noticed that God is frequently late? As I’ve grown older in faith, I’ve become more aware that God follows a different time, almost as if he runs by a different clock. He is frequently late.
For the sceptical among you, allow me to elaborate. Some people are uncomfortable to speak about God in rather common ways. There is a degree of artificiality about our faith that does not permit many to see God in ways that are natural to life. Consequently, some cannot bring themselves to speak of God in ways that may appear common or negative. For those of you who are so inclined, I ask for your indulgence as we examine the evidence.
When God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18, it was with the intention to tell Abraham that he and Sarah were to finally have a son. Unfortunately, Abraham was 99 years old at the time, and Sarah was 89 years old. Both knew that it was already too late. They knew that it was physiologically impossible for them to have a child. The irony of the situation was not lost on Abraham and Sarah because they both burst out laughing. I can just imagine them saying, “God, it’s simply too late!” God was late.
The 80-year old Moses had lived in exile for 40 years when at a burning bush he was startled by God. The dreams and hopes he had had 40 years prior to this had most likely evaporated. His people, the Israelites, had been in bondage, slaves of Egypt, for over a hundred years (or more). During this period a death decree had been proclaimed against the Israelites, and the resulting pogrom led to the death of hundreds or thousands of infant male Israelites. Moses himself had been miraculously preserved from this decree. Why does God come at this late hour to attempt a deliverance of his people? Is it possible that Moses’ hesitancy was partially driven by his doubts about God’s sense of timing? I think I can almost hear Moses mutter, “God, you are late!” God was late.
Job had experienced monumental tragedies. He had lost all his material possessions; all his children had perished violently; his wife might have walked out on him; his friends had turned into ardent accusers. Slowly but surely, Job began to sink into despair and despondency. That’s when God appeared to Job. Wasn’t it too late? Can you hear job lament, “God, you’re too late”?
Mary and Martha watched their brother, Lazarus, fall ill, his life force deteriorate, and die. They had sent desperate messages to Jesus to come and help but he did not. Four days after Lazarus’ burial, Jesus appeared. Can you feel the pain of the sisters when they saw Jesus? Out of desperation, they cried, “Lord, if you had been here, you could have helped Lazarus. But you are too late!” When Jesus asked that the tombstone be rolled away, Martha protested, “Lord, he’s been in there for four days!” Again, God was late.
Arguably, the most commonly asked questions of faith have little to do with God’s existence or providence. The most troubling questions for God’s people inevitably have to do with his sense of timing. Far too frequently, God is late. And so God’s people are often left to cry out, “When, O Lord? How long, O Lord? Why were you not here when we needed you? Why did you not come? Why are you so late?” How many of us have asked these questions? When, in 1996, while on a Bible camp, my best friend went swimming in the sea and did not return alive, I was compelled to ask these questions. And I still do!
Yes, God is frequently late. Yet at this juncture I am struck by a totally paradoxically truth. God may be frequently late, but he is always on time! How can that be, you ask? Again you must allow me to elaborate
I would like to take you back to some important passages of Scripture, passages that enable us to grasp God’s sense of timing. We must do this in order to deal with this incredibly paradoxical truth: God is frequently late, but he is always on time!
In Isaiah 55:8-9 God reminds us of a fundamental truth. He says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways . . . As the heavens are higher that the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This tells me that God operates on a different thought level. He has a vantage view that I am incapable of having.
2 Peter 3:8 says, that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Obviously, God runs by a different clock. He functions on a totally different time scale. His time is not our time.
In Jeremiah 29:11, God makes a wonderful promise. “For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You see, God functions at a very different level of intentionality. Unlike you and I, he has only good plans. This is further corroborated by Romans 8:28. Paul writes, “We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” This forces a conviction upon us that says that whatever happens to us fits a design. God is in control of our lives and he alone knows what is truly for our best.
Abraham and Sarah thought that God had appeared too late, but because God came, Isaac was born. Moses may have entertained similar thoughts about God’s timing, but because he came the Israelites were delivered from Egypt and we are left with the story of the Exodus, the greatest tale of deliverance in human folklore.
When God came to Job, a tenfold restoration ensued. All the losses that Job experienced were more than amply compensated.
Mary and Martha were certain that Jesus was too late. However, he came and because he did, Lazarus was raised from the dead.
In each of these stories, and others like them, God is quite obviously late. That is what we see. That is the human perception of his actions. That is the view we are allowed to have. If we examine our own lives we will notice all the times that God was late, or that we were certain he was. This view of reality is the most trying one for God’s people. We frequently struggle to make sense of all this.
Nevertheless, the curtain has been drawn aside for us. We do have a preview of God’s side of the reality. He is always on time. God’s intentionality toward and heart for his people mean that he is always on time. From his vantage place and with his love always directed at us (his people), he can, and does, ensure that he is truly on time, regardless how our clocks read.
Yes. God is frequently late, but he is always on time!
Armed with this truth, we can now turn to the most important lesson of faith. Isaiah 40:31 states: “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall rise up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be wearied; they shall walk and not faint.” Faith discovers its strength, not in the busyness of life or in the preponderance of effort, but rather in the tranquillity of soul that enables us to tune in to God’s frequency. For it is in waiting upon the Lord that we learn the lesson we most need.
God is frequently late, but he is always on time. Therefore, wait on the Lord and you shall find strength.
In the words of a song about Lazarus:
When he’s four days late and all hope is gone,
Lord, we don’t understand why you’ve waited so long.
But his way is God’s way; it’s not yours or mine;
And isn’t it great, when he’s four days late,
He’s still on time.
