Any Time Will Do!

“‘If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!’ Therefore, Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.’” John 7:4, 6.

Growing up one of four girls, not many days passed when the battle cry of ‘Prove It!’ didn’t ring out in our household. Someone seemed to always be disbelieving about something another of us was claiming. The burden always laid at the feet of the one who proclaimed their truth. The same scenario was occurring in our verses above. The brothers of Jesus were being antagonistic to Him about what He was claiming. They tried to goad Him into performing miracles in the center of these crowds without much belief that He could (If you can do…). I can’t help but to believe that the man-Jesus…the brother of these antagonists…had to restrain Himself from showing them a miracle or two to shut them up. But, Jesus showed His holy restraint, knowing that all things weren’t yet in place for the supernatural to shine. I do LOVE His response to His brothers! ‘For you any time will do.’

We are no different than His siblings when calling on Him to show us His workings. We pray and plead, ‘If you can heal, then do it!’ We ask Him to ‘show up and show out’ by giving us that job…that spouse…that healing…that delivery. Sometimes, we even become antagonistic like His siblings when trying to settle things in our hearts. ‘You could have done this wonderful thing, but you didn’t!’ We have hearts of ‘any time will do, Lord!’ The principle that counteracts this attitude is the principle of waiting on the Lord. Jesus understood that God had orchestrated the exact time frame in which He was to operate. He understood that to wait on God meant to reject the timing of man and our own desires. He knew by taking matters into His own hands, He would be snatching them out of the hands of God. He trusted that while things looked stagnant on earth, God was arranging and aligning things in Heaven. Our earthly calendar seems to stand still as the heavenly calendar is ticking away.

Whatever it is that we are waiting on Jesus to act upon, we must walk in the understanding that He is in total control of our lives. We must turn our prayers from ‘show me what you can do for me’ to ‘show me what you are doing in me.’ When that beautiful day comes when our desires intersect God’s timing the whole world will see His miraculous works. It is different for everyone, for everyone’s journey is different. Trust in Him and wait upon the Lord.

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7-8.