Waiting on God’s timing is an exercise in patience. We pray for God’s will, but want our will in the when. We step out in front of God’s leading, taking things into our own hands, and somehow justifying our actions as being “led”. Yet when we truly can rest in God’s perfect providence, relying on Him to move on our behalf, we see His miraculous grace and hand in our circumstances which are far above our human engineering.
Jesus waited on His Father’s leading and obeyed Him in all things. We see this demonstrated when his brothers confronted Him about going up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles. His own flesh and blood did not believe in Him and were seemingly baiting Him to go show off the works He was doing. His reply came from a place of submission to God the Father, as He told them that His time had not yet come.
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not ye going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. John 7:1-9
An interesting thing about this particular feast was that it was open to both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus could have had a fully diverse audience, reaching all kinds of people with the message of the kingdom. It could have been a “seize the moment” kind of feast, spreading His message to all people, yet he waited on His Father’s go ahead.
Tabernacles is unique in that the Gentile nations were invited to come up to Jerusalem along with the Jewish people to worship the Lord at this “appointed time”. The Lord told Moses to gather all men, women and children, along with the foreigners in their land, so they can learn to fear the Lord (Deut. 31:12).
In our human perspective, it could have been the perfect weekend to get the word out, yet Jesus loved the Father and trusted Him to unfold the plan as He walked this earth. John 5:19-20 says, So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
Our omniscient Father has our best interest in mind and we need to live like Jesus, trusting in God’s timing in our lives. Seek God through prayer, be content in the knowledge that our God is outside of time and therefore sees the whole picture of our lives. We can only guesstimate the next moment, so our perspective is incomplete. He hears, He answers, and His ways are far above our ways in scope and perfection.
I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.