Micah 5:2 (ESV)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.

In Matthew 2, when the Wise Men were seeking the new king who had been born, the Scribes and Priests quoted the verse above from Micah to indicate where the king was to be born. They knew this prophecy was a reference to the king. What we forget is that this prophecy was made over 700 years before it was fulfilled. 700 years!

God is not in a hurry. He has his own timetable. He does not work according to our timetable, but according to his. When Jesus was informed that Lazarus was sick he stayed two more days before going to his friend (see John 11). When Jesus arrived to find that Lazarus had died Mary responded, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died” (Jn 11:32). She would have had Jesus come earlier. His disciples didn’t want him to go at all. They feared for Jesus’s life. Jesus worked according to his own timetable. He had something bigger in mind than just a healing. He planned a resurrection. Neither Mary and Martha’s fear, nor his disciples’ fear determined his actions.

We get impatient. We pray and we trust, expecting God to work in our way and in our time. Mary and Martha had to wait two days longer than they thought they should. God’s people had to wait over 700 years for the prophecy of the king to be fulfilled. There are different reasons for the delay between the need or the prophecy and the fulfillment, but it is always according to God’s timeline and God’s purpose. We simply need to trust him.

That is why we walk by faith and not by sight (See 2 Cor 5:7). If our prayers were always answered immediately, if our fears were instantly alleviated, if our needs were immediately met we would be walking by sight. We would follow God because like a magic vending machine he doled out our every wish instantly. But walking with God is a matter of faith. It means trusting him in the dark. It means trusting that whatever he is taking us through, we are not alone. It means accepting the truth that God will sustain us even if it means being thrown into a fiery furnace or a lion’s den. We walk by faith and not by sight. We can trust him even when we don’t see that answers we expect in the timeframe we expect. God is not in a hurry. He has his own timetable, and he is faithfully working his purpose. We can trust him.