Many of us sometimes encounter issues that needs immediate help from God but it seems like He goes silent. Many desperate people have gone to seek for help elsewhere as they believe that God would not be fast in responding to them.
But is God truly always late or is there something we are missing?
Let’s analyze this using the life of John the Baptist from the bible. John was the fore-runner of Jesus Christ. He was the one that prepared the heart of others about the coming Messiah. When Jesus came, he was the one that baptized Him and starting to show people who Jesus was. Along the line of his ministry, he was locked up in prison. He expected Jesus to rescue him but He didn’t. He sent his disciples to Jesus, yet He didn’t show up. Why?
God is bound by His words/principles. As much as He is merciful and rich in compassion, He doesn’t go against His principle. Though John pointed people to Jesus, he never submitted to Him. He was supposed to align with Jesus, since he had introduced him as the one who would take away the sins of the world, but he maintained his identity. And by God’s principle, He can only rescue those who are in union with Him. A certain Canaanite woman went to Jesus to heal her daughter but Jesus told her that she was asking for food that belonged to the children. An indication that she didn’t belong to Him. Matthew 15:26 ‘He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
Though Jesus was in the world, yet He maintained relationship with God by being in union with Him. John 5:19 ‘Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does’. This was what John should have done, but he kept his identity. When we talk about Jesus but keep our identity, it is an indication that we are saying that we can take care of ourselves
The other reason it seems that we don’t receive help quickly from God is because what we are asking God to do, he has given us authority to do. Matthew 16:19 ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”. When we read the conversation that Jesus had with Peter up until that time, we can see that Jesus meant that anyone who receives the revelation of who He is, He gives them the authority to bind and lose thing. We can only have this revelation if we are in union with Him.
How ever long it takes us to catch the revelation of Jesus, is how long it will take us to receive help. God is not the one who delays but we are the ones who are slow in understanding.
2 Peter 3:8-9 ‘Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
