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Trusting God When He Takes Too Long

I was born just fifteen days before the year 1972, the year that brought the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin, dryer sheets, and Silly String. Hewlett-Packard announced the world’s first pocket scientific calculator, Atari was founded, and Pong went on to become the first successful commercial video game in history. The entertainment industry produced such icons as The Godfather, Hawaii Five-O, and Fiddler on the Roof. What a fun year!

While most of us are familiar with the 1972 hits “Lean on Me,” and “American Pie,” a lesser-known song was titled, “All Day Song.” Written by John Fischer, this tune was a family favorite of ours, sung on long car trips and around campfires with youth groups, as my parents were in youth and college ministry. The lyrics were a basic reminder to love God in the morning and the evening when his sovereignty is most obvious, but also in the in-between times.

The In-Between Times

I have lived through some very frustrating in-between times, and I imagine you have too. In between uttering the words “I do” and experiencing a selfless, thriving marriage. In between infertility and a positive pregnancy test. In between the birth of a dream and its actualization. In between prayers for a child’s future and seeing them fulfill their potential.

God’s Word sheds light on one of the lengthiest in-between times in history. In Genesis 12:2, God promises Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation.” And it happens. But not in his lifetime. Or his kids’ lifetime. Or his grandkids’ lifetime. In fact, it happens 196 chapters, 312 pages, and 650 years later.

That’s a long time, folks.

I prefer instant gratification. I want immediate indicators that the wheels are turning and the tide is changing. I thrive on motion, and stink at being still. As it turns out, a lot was happening in those 650 years in between the promise given and the promise fulfilled. Here’s a brief list:

  • Acts of faith
  • Displays of impatience
  • Laughing at God
  • Deceit
  • Obedience
  • Imprisonment
  • Slavery
  • Exultation
  • Plagues
  • Miracles
  • Whining, complaining, grumbling
  • Constructing God’s dwelling place
  • Constructing worthless idols
  • Rebellion
  • Provision
  • Consequences
  • Victories
  • Defeats

There were so many contradictions in the actions of God’s people. They were literally all over the place, teetering between submission and revolt. Experiencing the taste of future glory amid the stench of defeats. 

In fact, the only constant factor during those 650 years was the faithfulness of God.

In Joshua 23:12-13, God reminds this ever-wandering people that the land they were claiming was one for which they had not labored, contained cities they had not built, grew vineyards and olives they did not plant, and were won by victories that did not include their bows or swords. And Verse 14 includes this reminder: “Not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”

Image by Dilan Arezzome from pixabay.

In the 650 years of  in-between times, God fulfilled every promise He had made. Trust often involves waiting while unfulfilled, believing the promise is good even before we see it realized. In her book Refresh Your Hope, Lori Hatcher points out that the Hebrew word for hope (yachal) is often the same one translated as wait in the Old Testament. When David commands his soul to hope in God, he isn’t just giving himself a pep talk. He is telling himself to wait and tarry before God, acknowledging that life includes in-between times.

Our hope is in a God who is worthy of our wait.

We don’t wait with wishful thinking; we wait with confidence that not one word has failed of all the promises He has made. We wait in hope because our faith is in a God whose Word cannot fail. This is easier to say and believe than to practice, so what does this trust look like in the rawness of daily life and hopes unrealized?

Hebrews 11 gives us a glimpse of Abraham’s strategy for abiding in hope when the promise was given to him. “By faith, …he went to live…in tents, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” While God was working out the fulfillment of His promise – the Promised Land – Abraham did the next right thing. He went to live in a tent, continuing in daily obedience in the little things while his heart looked ahead to the eternal conclusion.

Image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay 

And that’s how I long to experience my in-between times. By putting one foot in front of the other, and actively obeying the commands He has given in His word while trusting His unchanging faithfulness. Believing the days, months, and years of sanctification will accomplish their work in my life as I do the next right thing.

Hoping inevitably involves waiting. But God makes good on His promises. So, I’ll keep walking in faith and abiding in Him, even during seasons of drought or delay. Even in the in-between times.

Here’s a link to the All Day Song if you feel like a taste of 1970’s “Jesus Music.”

And here’s a link to the devotional book, Refresh Your Hope, and Lori Hatcher’s encouraging blog, Refresh.