Psalms 40: 1-2

“He Hath Made All Things Beautiful In His Time“

The Bible says in Psalms 40:1, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

If all the events of human history, each action that man has done, could be unraveled before us like a book; we would read and find that most of the works of man are vanity, because they are based upon the will of man and not the will of God. We humans are impatient. We are so often in a hurry to go somewhere, to acquire something, or in a hurry for time to pass by. And we are so easily upset, angry and frustrated when things don’t go our way. But the will of man works not the righteousness of God. And God’s timing is not our timing, nor or our thoughts His thoughts. God knows all and we know very little. With God all things are possible, but with man there is very little that man can do. Aside from increasing in your faith in Christ, and from diligently studying the Word of God and praying fervently every day there are very few spiritual principles as important as learning to wait on the Lord. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” If you learn to wait on the Lord in making decisions in this life, and if you learn to wait on the Lord in everything that you do; then you will always have spiritual strength to carry you through the fiery trials of this life. If you learn to wait on God, instead of treading heavily through the paths of this life; you will soar with the wings of grace across the azure skies of life and among the clouds of the presence of God, because the Bible says in Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Waiting on the Lord and being led by the Spirit of God go hand in hand. This is why the Bible says in Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.”

Life is a journey. Life is a spiritual journey that goes through the valley of temptation and over the mountain of praise. If you diligently study the Bible you will see the way that God has carefully, and in His timing; revealed His grace to man. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God did not immediately send His Son to die for our sins. But He sent Jesus in the fullness of times, after teaching and preparing the hearts of men. And Christ is shortly returning to the earth. But He has not returned yet because God is giving us the chance to learn to wait upon Him. And God is giving the sinners of the world the chance to be saved. II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

“A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;”

“A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;”

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

“A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;”

“A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;”

“A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;”

“A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.”

Everything in life has its time. Time is something that God has created and that God controls. Man is limited by time, but God has all the time in the world. To wait on God means to put your faith on God. To wait on God means to seek God’s will and not your own before making a decision in life. To wait on God means to seek His will in prayer until He opens the door of opportunity. In Revelation 3:7 Jesus said, “These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;” You may have heard the saying; where there is a will there is a way. But it would be much more accurate to say, “If it’s the will of God there will be a way.”

In the days of Noah the world was filled with the ungodliness of men. Genesis 6:5 says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” For 120 years, Noah, the only man the earth during his time with faith in God, preached the Word of God and warned of the judgment to come. Noah waited on God to reprove the world of sin. Noah waited on God to justly judge the wickedness of man. And Noah also waited on God to deliver him and his family from the wickedness of the world. Of course waiting on God does not mean to stand idly by and do nothing. Waiting on God means to believe the promises of God, and to do today; the task that God has given you to do. Noah waited on God; He believed God’s promise of deliverance and judgment. But he did the work himself, to build a boat. When the fountains of deep broke open, when the skies began to weep the water of the judgment of God; God put Noah and Noah’s family into the ark, and then; God shut the door to the ark. And no man was able to open it. For 120 years the ungodly men of the earth mocked the promises of God, and they mocked Noah as he built the ark. But when the rains came and when the floods descended upon them they must have screamed, and begged, and pleaded with their fists against the door of the ark. But God had shut the door of that opportunity, once the time was past. There is no force in the world that can stand against the will of God. We must rely on God for wisdom to understand God’s leading. And we must wait on God to give us our opportunities. But we must seize the moment, when the time is right. If you claim to be waiting on God but are letting your opportunities pass by, then you may not truly be waiting on the Lord. This is why the Bible says in II Corinthians 6:2, “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” The only opportunity that we can be certain that God has given to us; is today, this very moment. It’s the opportunity to live by faith; to be faithful in little, and to wait on the Lord; to see what God brings our way tomorrow.

God is the giver of all opportunity and He is also the one who takes away opportunity. In this life God has given us the opportunity to learn to wait upon God, and upon God’s perfect timing. To be able to wait on God and be led by the Spirit of God requires several things. First it requires faith in the promises of God. To wait on God requires that we seek the will of God and the things of God first, above everything else. To wait on God requires wisdom. To wait on God also requires patience and God’s grace because in our own strength, we will only become impatient and do things in our timing instead of waiting on God. God does all things in a miraculous way. If you do not see God’s guiding hand in your life, in both the small and the great, then you are not living by faith.

If you learn to wait on the Lord then you can say just as Paul did in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

In Genesis chapter 12:2 God promised Abraham, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and though shalt be a blessing:” God promised Abraham a child in his old age through his wife Sarai. The child’s name was Isaac. But Isaac was not born until 25 years after God first gave Abraham this promise. Abraham had to learn to wait on the Lord.

In the Gospel of Luke, a story is given about a man named Simeon. The Bible says in Luke 2:25-32, “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ, And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

Simeon was a just and devout man. Of course there is only one reason that Simeon was just, because he had faith God. And there are two reasons he was a devout man; He waited on God, and he was led by the Spirit of God. We do not know how long Simeon had waited on God to see the baby Jesus. But we do know that God had promised and revealed to Simeon, through the Holy Ghost, that he would see the consolation of Israel, the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Salvation of the world. What was the great benefit and end result of Simeon waiting on the Lord? First of all, He saw the Christ with His very eyes. And he was also used of God in the giving of God’s Word, the Gospel, and in the strengthening of the faith of Jesus’ physical parents Mary and Joseph. Luke 2:28-32 says, “Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

Because the very words of Simeon are written in the Bible, we know these words which he spake were actually the Words of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. Because we now live in an age when the Word of God has been completely given to us by God, you will not be used by God to speak forth any new revelations of Scripture. But if you learn to wait upon God just as Simeon did, then God will use you mightily to spread the knowledge of His Word, and to build up the faith of other believers. And especially to spread the wonderful story of the forgiveness of sins found in Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world. We should wait on God, because God always does what is best for us spiritually and what is best for those in the world around us. This is why Romans 8:28 promises, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

Psalms 40:1-2 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” To cry unto God means to pray. Do you find yourself adrift amid the stormy seas of Life? Are you lost in the valley of temptation? Is your flesh and is your soul corrupted by the leprosy of sin, because you have failed to wait on God? Have the locusts of sin eaten away the blessings and opportunities of your life? The grace of God will restore the years the locusts have eaten. Jesus Christ lived on this earth as a man for 33 years. He waited on God perfectly for 33 years. And He also died on the cross for your sins. And then He rose again the 3^rd day, so that all those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God might partake of the same eternal and glorious resurrection.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He hath made very thing beautiful in His time: also He hath set the world in their heat, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” He hath made every thing beautiful in His time. The Bible says in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Repent of your sins and trust in Christ. He will forgive you of your sins. Jesus will cleanse your soul, give you peace and eternal and abundant life. And then learn to wait upon God and you will find that God does indeed make everything beautiful in His time. Once you trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, God will take your sinful and depraved soul and make it into a beautiful flower; which will bloom forever in the garden of God’s eternal paradise, because God makes all things beautiful in His time.

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