For Sarah, it was an endless, agonizing wait, as the years slowly turned into decades and God’s promise remained unfulfilled. With each passing year, hope was replaced with increasing doubt. A baby at her age? The idea was laughable, implausible, maybe even impossible. Would she ever get to experience this long-awaited blessing?
We can probably all relate to Sarah’s experience on some level. Waiting with excitement and anticipation for God to answer our prayers—to fulfill His promises. And then—nothing. Time passes, slowly. Frustration mounts and doubts creep in.
“What is God doing?” we wonder. “Why is this taking so long?”
We so often mistake God’s silence for inaction, abandonment, or rejection. Yet scripture reminds us that God is not operating on our rudimentary time schedule. He is on heaven time.
“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness” (2 Peter 3:8-9, NIV).
There is freedom in releasing ourselves from the bonds of our self-imposed timetables and arbitrary deadlines. Choosing instead to set our clocks to heaven time. To trust in a God who is working out His plans and purposes in ways we cannot fathom, in the fullness of time—His time.
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised” (Genesis 21:1, NIV).
God does not break His promises. He stays true to His Word. But like Sarah, we are often called to wait, and trust. Trust in His faithfulness, His goodness, and His perfect timing. Trust that when we finally receive our blessings, they are going to be worth the wait.