Hurry up, God!

I wonder if you’ve ever tried to hurry God up? I have to confess that I have. Many years ago, long before Ellel Ministries was established in 1986, I was daily crying out to God. He had planted the vision for a healing centre in the north-west of England in my heart, but as the years went by I almost became convinced that God had not only forgotten about the vision, but at times it seemed as though He had forgotten me as well.

It was a very lonely place of waiting. And as I got older, I became convinced, as well, that I was getting too old for the work I believed God had called me to do. My natural disposition was to try and make things happen, but God was having to teach me a very deep lesson - that His clocks keep perfect time. Like the psalmist, my whole being was waiting – I was desperate for the dawn to break on the day I was so sure He had told me about.

Those years of waiting, however, proved to be profound years of preparation. God had to do a lot of work in my life to equip me for the work that lay ahead. They were also years of testing as to whether or not I would continue to trust God for the vision, even though it seemed as though God had forgotten. I really understood how Abraham must have felt as the years rolled by, and there was still no sign of Sarah getting pregnant with the child that God had promised them.

But God had given Abraham His word and it was on God’s word that he was depending. And the vision that God gave me for the ministry was a word that He had spoken so clearly into my heart that it had become etched on my spirit and become part of me. I didn’t give up hope. And when the time finally came (the dawn!) it seemed so right. The morning had come and the work began in God’s time, not my own.

There were so many things I learned during those years of waiting that I can look back now with great thanksgiving for the critical lessons I had to learn. God really does know what He’s doing! So next time you are tempted to try and hurry God up, remember that His clocks do keep perfect time and the dawn will come.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You don’t forget Your promises and that each one of us is in the palm of Your hand as we await Your timing for the different events of life to come to fulfilment. Teach me patience and give me a willing heart to learn whatever lessons You want to teach me along the way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.