“No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11 NKJV

“However much God gives, He is no poorer for it.”

My thoughts today are about “when you don’t know when.”

I think anyone who knows God fully believes this truth: “No good thing will God withhold from them that walk uprightly.” I mean, why would a loving and giving God even want to withhold what is good? However much He gives, He is no poorer for it. You and I with our limited resource might desire to give what another needs, yet not have the ability to do so.

But that certainly is not true of God. God has desire, capacity, and ability. Jesus described a child asking his father for good things, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone? . . If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” Read Matthew 7:7-11 NIV.

There are times when life seems to trample on truth. Painful realities force their way into your day, and even worse they linger longer than you think you can bear. I have found that most people can manage slight pain for a lengthy time, or even severe pain briefly, but who can bear the greatest of pain the longest of time? Pain and delay challenges your belief until you cry out, “Where are the good gifts the father gives . . where is the good thing God will not withhold?”

The Apostle Paul wrestled with that kind of physical and emotional pain from an undescribed “thorn in the flesh,” and physically languished in a Roman prison, while what would appear to any of us as being a “good thing” seemed to be withheld. Still Paul wrote confidently to the Philippian Christians, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 NKJV. I want to live with that kind of unshakable faith.

But when the real need of your moment remains unmet too long, don’t you wonder or ask why? The unwanted and unanswered question presses into my mind asking, “What is the hold-up?” How about you? It seems I go from wondering how my need will be met, to asking why my need is not met yet, until finally wanting to demand of God, “When will my need be met?” Your heart knows God will provide; you struggle when you don’t know when. It does not help when God remains silent. But know this; God’s delays are not His denial.

There is only one answer for the times in life when all you know about God doesn’t match the  reality you are presently experiencing. That’s when you look up into the face of a loving and gracious God and say with all your heart, “My times are in your hands!” Psalm 31:15 NIV. Either God has something far better for you when you would gladly settle for less right now, or your need is not what you really need right now. When you don’t know when, God does. He is always on time, never late.

My prayer for you today is that your calendar and clock always agree with God’s.