Timing and the aspect of ‘waiting on God’ as a believer in Christ are very important in one’s life. I have found that most definitely timing is huge. I have seen people miss God and I have seen people run out ahead of God. Neither are good and are detrimental to us walking in the fullness of His purposes for us in this life. I have seen times in my own life where I have missed it…or because I was excited about something I believed God was telling me, tried to do it in my own strength forcing the hand of God. It has to be the right thing at the right time because the right thing at the wrong time ends up being the wrong thing, regardless of whether it was to be right farther down the road-or even earlier if someone waited too long. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. I believe there are two different situations involved many times:

The first situation being when we have received specific revelation from God about something He may want us to do. For example someone may sense a calling to the mission field. Now the calling from God may be genuine but it doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen right away. It may happen within 6 months or it may happen in 6 years or even 60 years. Therein lies our opportunity to pray & fast and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit about the timetable and anything we need to do in the meantime to prepare for this calling. The kicker is, there may not be anything we need to do specifically to prepare for the calling at the time but just continue to be faithful right where we are-to be active in our relationship with the Lord and any ministries/activities where we are currently serving. Or there may be very specific tasks ahead which the Holy Spirit would have us begin working on in preparation for the mission field: schooling, local church ministries, community volunteering opportunities, etc. This all depends on God’s time table-not ours.

The second is a bit different because instead of there being a specific task or calling at hand, it is much broader in scope. I believe…no, I know for a fact, that too many people wait around to hear a voice from Heaven on many things they don’t need to hear a voice from Heaven on-they just need to do! Sometimes there are exact things God would have us do: a job, a ministry in the local church, stopping to talk with someone about the Lord, praying with someone, going somewhere that we wouldn’t normally go,  etc. But there are also many times when it is open and we can act for ourselves, based on who we are as a believer in Christ. We don’t need a light from Heaven to shine down for use to talk to someone about the Lord, or to stop and help someone in need. We don’t need a theophany in order to go back to school or to pick the exact right school! We don’t need Holy Spirit goosebumps in order pray about things the Word has already declared to be true or things which we should do. I have found that the Lord just wants us to step out in faith. If our hearts are sensitive to Him and we step out in faith and we miss it, guess what? God will guide us back in line to where we should go. We just need to move and not stay stagnant. Many a believer miss out on the good things of God because they stay still waiting to hear from the Lord when all the while, they just need to get up off their rump and start moving forward in whatever is on the heart to do-so long as it’s not sinful in nature.

A good example of our walk with God is like driving a car-except we aren’t driving by ourselves anymore because as Christians we have devoted our lives and calling to the Lord. We provide the acceleration and God will steer us in the right direction to get to the correct destination. I find many Christians though never put their foot on the accelerator-they just sit there wanting God to move them AND steer them! The Holy Spirit won’t ever force you to go somewhere or to do anything. He is always a gentleman in dealing with His children. He wants us to have the courage to push the pedal but the faith to let Him steer the car. This takes faith but it is how the Lord works.

Proverbs 16:3 ‘Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.’ .
Blessings.