Good Morning.
And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. (Genesis 21:1-3)
At long last, at the age of 90, Sarah finally gave birth to a son. After many years of anticipation and hoping, not to mention as they became more advanced in years, the promised seed was born. What may have seemed as taking too long to them was, according to the text, right on time — it was the preordained “set time.”
Have you ever considered that, when it comes to fulfilling His promises to His people, God doesn’t seem to get in a hurry. From our point of view it seems that He is often running late, never early. Yet those things that He has ordained will happen exactly when they are supposed to at the set or appointed time. That is, in fact, what the Hebrew word used here means — the appointed time. When it was the appointed time, He sent His Son into the world to fulfill His plan of redemption for all of mankind.
Might it be that there is an appointed time for the promise made to each of us as individuals? I would argue that there is; there is a time that God’s plan for you and for me is to come to pass. Yes, we have a role to play and a big part of that plan is to believe that He will be true to do His part. He will cause His purposes to come to pass at the appointed time. This notion is addressed by the prophet Habakkuk:
For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:3)
It is left to us to be content to with for the LORD’s perfect timing because, as Abraham and Sarah discovered, God will be faithful to His Word. It may take some time for us to see it, but when all is said and done, we will realize that the appointed time is the best time.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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