He was always in control and how His timing always works to our advantage.

Probably one of the most difficult lessons God has taught me is that the nature of His timing is always perfect; maybe you feel the same way today. God, in all His power and grace, can often tend to seem "late" when things don't happen when we expect them to, but in the end it always makes sense to us how He was always in control and how His timing always works to our advantage.

Maybe you've been waiting for a while now for the one whom you'll marry to come, for a job opportunity to open up, for financial breakthrough to alleviate your hardships, or for a promised child to arrive. God's timing is often not the timing we hope for, but we can be assured—through the promise He gives in His word and the many personal experiences we've had—that God's timing is perfect at all times.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (ESV). God calls us to draw near through the work done by Christ and then receive God's grace when we need it the most. You might think that you need that miracle or that breakthrough now, but God is saying "wait" because it's really not time and you don't know it.

Psalm 18:30 speaks also of God's ways, saying, "This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him" (ESV). Nothing God ever does is out of tune or out of sync.

Even the way that God created the world was timed perfectly and in great harmony. When Jesus came to die for us on a cross, He was never too late or too early—though it seemed to many Jews that He was too late—but timed just perfectly through the periods and seasons of history.

The only way to grow in our confidence in God's timing is to be led by His Spirit because it is when we are led by the Spirit that we are birthed with His fruit. Galatians 5:22 gives a fruit of love that leads to patience: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..." (ESV). When we understand the unending and gracious love of Jesus Christ for us, we will be patient in trusting in His perfect timing.

God's timing is perfect for us because He cares about our welfare and wants us to experience His good and pleasing will. But we are also called to grow in trusting His love and mercy even when His timing seems off to us.