One Aspect of God’s Will Most People Overlook

God’s will happens when he wants it to and not a minute before. This theme of God’s will and God’s timing occurs throughout Scripture. Sometimes God’s may require you to take actions with no understanding of the timing when he will bring it to pass. 

God told Noah to build an ark because he was going to destroy the world with a flood. That was God’s will. However, Noah did not know when the first raindrop was going to fall on the earth. The Bible doesn’t record this, but I wonder if they ridiculed Noah for building this ark. I wonder if they called him a fool, as he was following God’s will with no knowledge of his timing. 

Let me ask you a straightforward question. Why did Jesus come? The main reason he came was to offer his life as a sacrifice for our sins. Ultimately, this would lead to Jesus being arrested, tried, beaten, mocked, and eventually crucified. This was God’s will for Jesus. 

However, what we see in John 7 is they attempted to seize and arrest Jesus, but they couldn’t because it wasn’t time yet. Even though it was God’s will, because the time had not yet arrived, there was nothing they could do. Remember, God will not bring about his will in your life before it’s time.

The national dish of Jamaica is Ackee and saltfish. Ackee is a type of fruit, and when it is prepared and eaten with the saltfish, it is delicious. However, there is something you need to know about ackees. If you attempt to eat them before they are fully ripened, it can literally kill you. As wonderful as the dish is, it can end your life if you eat an ackee before its time. God’s will is much the same way. It is phenomenal, but if you try to make it happen before its time, it may have devastating consequences in your life. 

If you are waiting on God’s will, I encourage you to remain patient. Resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands and to make it happen before its time. If you are tempted, just think about our friend Abraham. He had a child with Haggar named Ishmael and later, when God fulfilled the promise, he had Isaac. Ishmael became the father of the Arab nations and Isaac, who was the son of the promise, is a father of the Jewish nations. Those two peoples have been fighting ever since. This resulted from Abraham taking matters into his own hands. Even though God’s timing may seem slow to you, wait for it. If you try to do things on your own, you might end up doing something that could have consequences for generations to come.

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Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club.  He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.