There is a common phrase used by optimistic people who are waiting for the circumstance of their lives to positively change course, “I’m waiting on the right time — God’s time.” But I believe the God of the Bible is not advocating for us to literally wait for better circumstance, which is ideally waiting from event to event until something good happens. No, God intends for people to go from experience to experience before we arrive to the desired event.
Waiting for a better outcome from event to event is a flawed and unproductive perspective. Events are things that happen at a given place or time. Life should not be lived nor measured by what has happened. This perspective approaches life like passing time. For example, if you have a troubled five-year-old and it seems like you may not be able to endure many years of their disruptive behavior, so you say things like, “I just have to keep this up until the kid is eighteen!” Or you plan to set the child up with activities in certain parts of their life just to create space from their problem in hopes they change. But if not, active events in their life keep them busy and out of your hair. This idea has cause people so many emotional, spiritual, and mental scars. How? I’m glad you ask! Have you ever had a parent or a sibling that you had problems with, and you only went to functions and gatherings with them only for the sake of not embarrassing your family? Both you and that person seen eye to eye for water reason. Then, all of a sudden, they die or get seriously injured. Then the event of their death or severe injury causes you pain and resentment. It’s because you allowed your pride to get you through events with them as time passed and did not come to compromising terms which would have led to a better experience with this person. See, I said “better experiences” not perfect experiences.
God does not merely want us to go event to event to reach a desired goal. He uses the negative events in our lives so that we can experience endurance, character, and build in us a hope that eventually gives Him glory.
Romans 5:3-4 reads:
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering, produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope..”
What we see here is a truthful explanation concerning or bad situation or negative circumstances, the text explains them through the term “suffering.” Living in a world that is subject to sin and evil causes us suffering. Yet because those who believe are justified by faith in Jesus Christ (justified for the penalty of sin through salvation [ROM. 5:1]), does not stop bad situations. However, God, who is holy and does no evil, majestically and mysteriously, uses evil, chaos, and bad events as tools to cultivate our character.
Also, in the text we see grammatically progressive development of virtue that proceeds from our suffering. First, “endurance,” which is the power to withstand hardship or stress. God enables us by given us strength through or tough times. Second, “character” meaning, the inherent complex of attributes that determines a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions. We are gaining strength that allows us to respond rightly through suffering. Third, and lastly, “hope” which is, someone (or something) on which expectations are centered. This expectation of someone is God, because once a person begins to gain positive and productive outcomes based on how they have experienced certain events permeates a trust in God which fulfills our hope in Him.
What I desire for the reader is this. Don’t just live life with an attitude of “I’m just making it through.” Live life in Christ which enables us to make it through troubling circumstances, because we know God is doing something inside of the event. What I’m not doing is advocating for people to endure traumatic and dangerous situations, please abandon any situation were your life and livelihood is in jeopardy. Yet, know that no one ask for bad things to happen to them. Because of the Fallenness of this world bad things happen. But God does great things through the bad things people have done to you. God knows how to turn harsh circumstances into times of healing and health. Therefore, embrace the events in your life as milestones, progressive experiences that lead to character and purpose. And at the end of the day you’ll go from saying ” Just waiting on God’s time” too, “Look what God did for me over time.”
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