Topic: God Is Always on Time [RICK WARREN Devotional 19 December 2019]

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BY RICK WARREN — DECEMBER 19, 2019

“The vision will still happen at the appointed time. It hurries toward its goal. It won’t be a lie. If it’s delayed, wait for it. It will certainly happen. It won’t be late” (Habakkuk 2:3 GW).God is never in a hurry, and he’s never late.

He’s always on time.

God’s timing is perfect, even when we can’t understand it. We’ll never really understand it, because God exists on a different wavelength. He has a different view of time because he is timeless.

The Bible talks about God’s understanding of time in 2 Peter 3:8. It says, “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (NIV).

Does that sound like the way you treat time? It might feel like a thousand years when I’m waiting for a meal sometimes, but we humans don’t think in those terms.

God’s timelessness has big implications for your life. When God created you, he put a dream in your heart. Most people start off with a big vision and a big goal. They have some kind of dream or plan or project for their life.

What vision has God given you? Over the years I’ve discovered that while everybody tends to start off early in life with a vision, as times goes on, more and more people give up on their dream before it’s accomplished because it doesn’t happen fast enough.

Maybe you have had your dream battered. Maybe you have had your dream broken. Or maybe, out of discouragement and disappointment, you have buried your dream. You’ve given up on it.

God doesn’t want you to do that. If God gave you a dream for your life, it will happen. It just has to happen on his timetable, not yours.

God says this about your dream: “The vision will still happen at the appointed time. It hurries toward its goal. It won’t be a lie. If it’s delayed, wait for it. It will certainly happen. It won’t be late” (Habakkuk 2:3 GW).

When I started Saddleback Church nearly 40 years ago when I was 25 years old, I was in a hurry to get everything done fast. But God said to me the same thing he will say to you with your dream: “No, it’s not all going to happen right now. But slowly, steadily, the vision will be fulfilled.”

I want you to remember a powerful truth this Christmas season: God is never early in your life. He is never late in your life.

God is always right on time.

• Why would God want your dream to happen on his timetable, not yours?
• Have you given up on a dream because it was delayed? Do you believe that the dream is from God?
• Why is it so difficult to stay disciplined when it comes to your dreams and goals?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.