How To Trust God’s Timing For Your Life

In life, there are moments where trusting God’s timing feels like an extreme sport. However, I believe that everything happens for a reason and no matter what we may go through, God is always present. That’s how God operates. In a time where it’s so easy to be riddled by uncertainty, something we can all be sure of is that everything in life happens when it is meant to. As believers, we often find that life is so much more fulfilling when we accept that the creator’s time is best.

We will all be subjected to times where our faith will be tested. In a world that’s obsessed with highlighting achievements and minimising lows, it is easy for some (if not most) of us to feel like we’ve been left out, especially during difficult situations. Social media has done nothing to help these feelings too. Setting timelines can leave us feeling physically and mentally drained, as we embark on what seems like a endless ordeal to ‘keep up with the Joneses’. I’m sure many of us can testify to feeling like God hasn’t heard our prayer requests and that you’re just waiting on God, but the truth is if He is making you wait, it’s only a matter of time before He comes through.

In this post, I will be sharing tips on what to do when you are finding it difficult to trust God’s timing.

Meditate

Meditating is one of the most best things anyone could do to calm a troubled mind. In 2017, I wrote a post about the benefits of meditating. When your mind is on 100, it’s easy to feel unsettled and anxious, but what I love about meditation is how peaceful you feel once it’s done. You can adopt your own meditation style and routine, you don’t need to be alone in the centre of a room before you do it. When you find yourself on a ‘if’s, when’s and but’s’ rollercoaster, give yourself a few minutes to practice a breathing technique of your choice. Meditating takes time so don’t expect to get it right straight away. Another thing meditation does is that it allows you to be appreciative of what you have as well as to be present. It compliments one of life’s most important lessons: be thankful for what you do have and stop focusing on what you don’t have. Ecclesiastes 3:1 sums this up perfectly. There is indeed a time for everything!

Find the root of your worry/uncertainty

We all have triggers and most of the time, we are able to identify what they are. As long as you keep giving into them, you will never be at peace. In Jeremiah 29:11,  God tells us that He has a plan for us. He also tells us that prosperity will be ours and that we will never be in harm’s way, as long as He is there. In order to truly trust God, separating yourself from anything that may threaten your relationship with him is essential. Whether it’s a certain set of friends, social media or it may even be a TV show. Anything that stirs up any negative feelings within you shouldn’t be a part of your life. However, going cold turkey just isn’t the way to do it. Acknowledge your triggers and work on eliminating certain emotions over a period of time. Change doesn’t happen overnight so don’t be too hard on yourself.

Pray

Prayer is a great way to solidify your relationship with God. Sometimes, it’s not about planning what you want to say, but instead it’s about telling God what’s on your mind. Some Christians don’t pray because they prefer express themselves through song or read the Bible instead and there’s nothing wrong with that. Over the past few years, I’ve found prayer very liberating. There’s something peaceful about taking all of your burdens and just giving them to God. 1 Chronicles 16:11 encourages us to look to God to renew their strength and to seek his face always. Whether times are good or not, God is always ready to listen to what we have to say. Prayer also helps you to realise that God is in control. Sometimes, we try to be our own God but when push comes to shove, we simply don’t have that power. As you wait, don’t forget to remind yourself of God’s promises and reflect on the times when your prayers have been answered. If he’s done it before, He can do it again.

Stop acting on impulse

Some of you may feel attacked by this truth but this message needed to be shared. Nothing will get you all up in your feelings like acting on impulse. In the moment, it may seem like you are doing the right thing but don’t forget to question your actions. Acting on impulse is another example of trying to be your own God. Follow your heart and not your head. As with one of the previous points, knowing your triggers is important. Do you tend to jump into a relationship when a family member questions your single status? Or are you one of those people who says ‘yes’ to everything at work and finds themselves running on empty later? Take a moment and think before you make a commitment of any kind. Proverbs 25:28 compares an individual without self control to a city that’s been destroyed and left without walls. If you do things in a haste, 9 out of 10 times, you won’t get the outcome you truly desire, and you’ll only have yourself to blame.

Find a distraction

Do something you love in your spare time. Sometimes what we really need to do when we feel anxious is to let go and let God. Thinking about the same things over and over again can be incredibly tiring. When I find myself overthinking about something in my life, I remind myself that I’m not defined by what I have or don’t have.Occupy yourself with a project, take that trip you’ve always wanted to go on or volunteer for that charity whose cause you are passionate about. Sometimes, we can become so obsessed with pressing on God for what we want Him to do for us that we forget to live our best lives. We just stop living and ultimately, we stop being ourselves because we feel like big life moments will just pass us by, which isn’t really the case. What’s yours is yours. Proverbs 17:22 encourages us to be joyful while warning us of the dangers of adopting a discouraged state of mind.

Change your perspective

Again, this is all about influence and the way in which we program our minds to think. It can be hard to be positive when everything around you seems to be taking a turn for the worst. Self-care has become a huge phenomenon, but it’s not all spa days and trips out. It’s about looking within and reflecting on how you feel about your life in this present moment. Be honest with yourself. Even keep a journal if you feel the need to. Seasons of waiting can be tough and whenever I think negatively, I remind myself of Romans 12:2, where God encourages His children to renew their mind. Don’t conform to the world. Pay attention to how you feel and who is around you. This verse is a reminder that self improvement is an ongoing process, and it’s certainly nothing to feel ashamed of. We could all take a bit of time to work on being our best selves.

The reason why I have written this post is because I think that some believers can have an idealistic view of God’s response to prayers (I’ve touched on this in a previous post), but He isn’t a genie and we shouldn’t expect Him to be at our beck and call. Everyone who believes goes through periods where trusting in God is hard. Most of us need to grow in that area instead of focusing on the ‘when’ and ‘why’. God causes things to happen at the right time. Stop trying to figure everything out and let God be God in your life.

Have you struggled with trusting God’s timing? How did you overcome that period in your life? Or if you have ever been anxious for a certain event to happen, how did you ease your worries?

I love to hear from you all so please feel free to leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to like and subscribe so that you will be first to know whenever there is a new post on the blog.

Kel xo