With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 PETER 3:8 (NIV)

Key points:

  • God operates outside of time.
  • God uses time to fulfil his purposes.
  • In the waiting we learn patience and trust.
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If you’re the organised type, trusting God’s timing can be difficult. You want a plan, you want a schedule, you want to remove the uncertainty of not knowing how and when things will unfold.

From the beginning of creation, He has been using time to fulfill His grand purposes.

God, who created time, operates outside of it though and that can be frustrating when we feel so confined by it. In 2 Peter 3:8, we are reminded that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” His understanding of time is not the same as our own.

God doesn’t just use time; He orchestrates it perfectly. From the beginning of creation, He has been using time to fulfill His grand purposes. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Each moment has a purpose in God’s plan, whether it’s a season of waiting, growth, or harvest.

But God uses time to mould our hearts, teach us patience, and develop our trust in Him.

In our impatience, we often want things to move faster. We may wonder why God hasn’t answered our prayers yet, or why we’re in a season of struggle. But God uses time to mould our hearts, teach us patience, and develop our trust in Him. His timing is always perfect.

Listen to this episode of Real Hope in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

We might want to hurry God along but, like the farmer planting seed whose example Jesus so often used, uprooting the seed to see if it’s growing serves no one. Our role is to water, fertilise and wait.

Lord, may we be able to do that graciously today.

Listen to this episode of Real Hope | The Podcast in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.


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Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro

Devotion written by Laura Bennett

Originally published as Time – God‘s Timing Can be Trusted


Laura Bennett

Laura Bennett is a media professional, broadcaster and writer with experience in reviewing books, films and culture. She is the host of Hope Afternoons on Hope 103.2 in Sydney and the UNDISTRACTED podcast where she explores the lives and expertise of her guests in order to learn how to become better at building our lives with intention, and live in the ways of Jesus.

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