21 Bible Verses About God’s Timing

** spoiler alert – Free gift at end of post **

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do whether it is at a doctor’s office or we want to know the results of a job interview. Am I the only one that has a hard time waiting?

And what about waiting on God? Are there Bible verses about God’s timing? Does it take courage to wait? And why is waiting so hard?

Are you waiting for answers right now?

Is there really a time for everything?

Some people say that God’s timing is always right. Many others do not agree. Every day there are people trying to make things happen, hurrying life along.

However, Scripture is quite clear about this matter. In Ecclesiastes, we find the following.

That pretty much covers all of life from the cradle to the grave.

Why is it so hard to wait on God’s timing?

Waiting creates a certain amount of anxiety because we can’t predict the future. Will things turn out the way we want, or not?

We often picture a certain path for ourselves. For instance, we might …

• graduate from school
• get a good job
• marry the perfect person
• have plenty of money
• raise a family
• retire and travel

While we can plan for these things, life does not always follow our desires or our timeline. In these situations, we can try to make things happen, but forcing things usually creates a whole other set of problems.

“You can either wait on God OR wish you had.” Charles F. Stanley

What does the Bible say about God’s timing

There are many Bible verses about God’s timing. While at times life may seem out of control, nevertheless, things do go according to His plans. Here are just a few verses that tell us about God’s timing.

• “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6
• “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son … ” Galatians 4:4
• “Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come … ” John 7:6
• “At the set time that I appoint, I will judge with equity.”Psalm 75:2
• “For still the vision awaits its appointed time … if it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come …” Habakkkuk 2:3

Bible verses about God’s timing and us

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that everything will be beautiful in God’s time. That is the Old Testament equivalent of Romans 8:28 which says that all things will work for good.

Notice the words “everything” and “all things“.

How would we act if we really believed that? Would we continue to rush things along, to make them happen in our way and in our time?

Bible verses about God’s timing and our purpose

We don’t have to wait when it comes to our purpose and God’s will for our lives. We know that serving others, and bringing Glory to God is always appropriate at any time.

Bible verses about God’s timing and our plans

Probably the hardest place to wait for God’s timing is when it involves our plans. We can not see the future, but God can. So He knows how things will work out if our plans come to their logical conclusion.

Strength and courage

There is a lot of good that comes from waiting for God’s timing.

Our plans and our health

The book of Psalms tells us that God knows how many days we will live and what we will do every one of those days. In fact, before we were conceived or born, God knew everything about us. (Psalm 139:16)

And when King David’s life was in danger, he expressed that he would live as long as God had ordained it. These were his words, “My times are in your hand … ” Psalm 31:15a

Does this mean we should not make plans? On the contrary. Having goals to work toward is healthy. The problem comes when we don’t leave room for God to adjust our plans.

Proverbs 16:9 says that we make our plans, but God establishes our steps.

Our Salvation

“Now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2c

When it comes to accepting God’s forgiveness and becoming a part of God’s family, the sooner we do it, the better.

If you have questions about becoming a part of the family of God, this article should answer a lot of your questions: “Christian Faith For Beginners.”

Bible characters who did and did not wait for God’s timing

“For every action, there is a reaction”. This is one of Newton’s laws of physics. Another way to say it is, “for every action there are consequences.”

While waiting on God has nothing to do with physics, we can expect consequences when we either wait or do not wait on God’s timing.

Sarah did NOT wait for God’s timing

Sarah and Abraham were great heroes of the faith, but they were also oh so human. In fact, Sarah was fed up waiting for God. She thought He forgot about His promise to bless them with a son.

Sarah, like so many of us, took matters into her own hands. She believed the lie that there was nothing God could do because she was way past menopause.

Do situations look impossible to us? Often, I am afraid. And like Sarah, we often take matters into our own hands.

In ancient times servants were believed to be possessions. So then if the servant had a child, it belonged to the servant’s owner.

Using that line of thinking, Sarah had her servant sleep with Abraham so Sarah would have the son she thought God couldn’t give her any other way. Bad decision.

Eventually, God did allow Sarah to give birth to her own son. But the consequences of her previous actions have caused the later generations of both sons to be at war with each other ever since.

The daughters of Lot did NOT wait for God’s timing

Lot was the nephew of Abraham. He lived in an incredibly evil city which God destroyed, but allowed Lot and his family to escape from.

Lot’s young daughters were fearful of being single forever and thus would never have children. Driven by this fear, they chose not to trust God’s timing.

Both daughters got their dad so drunk that he wasn’t aware that each slept with him in order to get pregnant. Talk about taking matters into their own hands.

And the consequences?

Two nations came from those two pregnancies. And just as with Sarah’s poor choices, the two nations became enemies of God’s people.

Rebekah and Issac DID wait for God’s timing

Issac was 40 years old and still single. The typical age for men to marry was around 19 or 20. Yet Issac was willing to wait for God’s timing.

If you were 40 years old and never been married, would you fear being single for the rest of your life? Would you be tempted to take matters into your own hands, ignoring red flags for the sake of getting married? Many people do.

Issac and Rebekah lived a long distance from each other and had never met. They each were fulfilling their assigned duties in life.

Through a strange set of circumstances by today’s standards, God brought these two together. They were not actively searching for each other as we do today.

Rebekah and Issac were eventually married and went on to raise a family. When it came to having a spouse, they were willing to wait for God’s timing.

You can read Rebekah and Issac’s story in Genesis chapter 24.

Final thoughts and a free gift

It never pays to rush ahead of God’s timing. Doing so shows a lack of trust in God’s love and faithfulness. And the consequences at some point will make you wish you had never taken matters into your own hands.

So the next time you are tempted to not wait for God, review all the many Bible verses about God’s timing. It should save you a lot of heartache down the road.

You might also like to read:

• How to have peace while waiting on God to act