Delays can easily appear as abandonment. But God, in His sovereignty, isn’t late nor early. If what you’ve been waiting for does not arrive at the timeframe you expect, it can be frustrating. What happens when God’s promise is delayed?
In the next forty days. . .
When I did this live prophetic painting last year, about seven people wanted to have this piece.
One of them claimed the prophetic word released. “Forty” is a significant number of completion and transformation. And it meant that God can bring into completion the things we pray about. I felt at the time that he would bring transformation in the next forty days.
Apparently, her husband had been praying for a job at the time. He told her wife that by faith, he would have that job already in the next forty days.
So they counted the days until forty days had passed . . .
But no job offer came.
Yet lo, months after I released the word, the wife approached me and said that within those forty days, she saw how her husband transformed and went deeper in his relationship with Jesus. It started with him being active with the Men’s fellowship called Gibbor.
With tears falling her cheeks, she said that seeing how her husband transformed was a blessing beyond the job they prayed for.
After more months of waiting and contending for the blessing, the husband finally received the job offer. The wife was led to ask the husband to count how many days it took from the time he received the call for the job offer to when he finally signed up for the contract.
And lo, it was exactly forty days.
The word came to pass for him, but he needed to undergo some process to be ready for the promise.
His timing is not our timing and He sometimes moves in a way that surpasses our understanding. But the promise still stands. Eve if it seems to tarry, it still comes at the right time, and the timing may depend on our willingness to yield in His transformative power.
This painting was inspired from Jesus’ ascension, his appearances for forty days to prove His resurrection, and how the disciples were rebuked to believe that Jesus was to overthrow the Roman rule. God had a bigger picture in mind. He did plan to establish His Kingdom but it was more than just to oust an earthly one. It was so that He could build His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Every time they were gathered together, they asked Jesus, “Lord is it the time now for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He answered, “The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfillment.
Acts 1:6-7a
If you’ve been waiting for a prayer to come to pass, may you be reminded that He still is the Lord of the promise. And He is still able to fulfill it. And may we all be willing to be transformed until we are ready to receive the completion of His good and perfect will for us.
Remember this whenever you ask: What happens when God’s promise is delayed?
