EP 77

welcome to the Smiling at the Future podcast. My name is Christi Rose and this is my pursuit to glean practical wisdom on femininity, homemaking, finances, relationships and singleness from the God fearing men and women in my life. Hope you enjoy this journey with me as we learn to smile at the future.

Hello ladies, we are back and launching into a new season of the Smiling at the Future podcast. During our summer break we started a website so you can check that out by going to smiling@thefuturepodcast.com. We have the episodes categorized by topic and we are working on getting the transcripts up as well for each conversation, so go on over check that out. You can also visit our Instagram page where we post quotes, upcoming topics, and questions. You can also contact us through our e-mail smiling at the Future podcast@gmail.com if you have an idea for a topic to be covered on this show.

Lynn Brown is my guest today and she’s going to be diving into the topic of God’s timing and encouraging us with many examples from the scriptures to help us trust the creator of time with the timing and events of our lives. So here is our conversation. Lynn, you are one of my favorite ladies to have on the podcast and I’m delighted that you’re helping me and kicking off this new season. We’ve gained some new listeners during our summer break, so if you would be so kind as to introduce yourself to the new people, that would be great.

Well, I am delighted to be here and welcome all of your new listeners. I live in Camarillo with my husband. We’ve been married 15 years now. I got married at 39, almost 40. I have two adult step kids that are in their 30s. And my husband and I do biblical counseling with the church. We attend Grace Community Church, and we do marriage counseling. And I do both married and single counseling. And I’m involved in women’s ministries and speaking and writing and gardening. But I always say I have a black thumb. So I garden, but I do it very badly.

So many of the listeners are in a season of waiting on the Lord, so taking a closer look at God’s perspective on time is going to be critical and helping us to trust Him. And when you approach me with this idea of looking at God’s timing and how he views and interacts with time, I just I love the idea and felt like anyone in any season of life is going to benefit from the truth in God’s word on this topic.

So their first question, we view time differently than God does. How does God relate to time in a way that’s different from us? I love the concept of time. So yes, thank you for even allowing me to talk about this. I love the study of it. I love to think about God in time and how he is different from us and how he relates to it. And I think it’s important for your listeners because if you are out there and you are like me, when I was single, I often said to the Lord I’m running out of time, as though I needed to remind him I’m running out of time to get married. I’m running out of time to have kids if you desire a family.

But it’s funny because I think about it now, and I think the time factor in my life is still true, but for different reasons. So it’s I’m running out of time to evangelize. Jesus is coming back soon. I’m running out of time to get that project done. I’m running out of time, too. And then you fill in the blank in some way. I think we all feel enslaved to a timetable. But we don’t see time in the same way that God sees it, and we don’t experience time the way the Lord does. And I want to be reminded of that. And I think it’s a good reminder that his ways are far above ours and so is his timetable.

One of verse that I love is Second Peter 3 verses 8 and 9. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like 1000 years and 1000 years like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But I really love the beginning of that. Do not let this one fact escape your notice that God’s timing is different from our time. I’d love that verse as well, and it is an example of how different God relates to time than we do. 1000 days or thousand days? 1000 years, right? Is that the one that you just? He’s not slack concerning his promise, but it is. He sees it completely differently. 1000 years is as one day to him. When it is passed, so it is. It’s completely separate in that sense.

But at the same time, he also enters into time, which is just really fascinating when you think about it. So this quality that God is not bound by time, but that he’s outside of it, would be considered his unchangeableness or eternality. So why is it important that we understand this attribute about God? I think it’s important because the truth that God never changes is wonderful, because we know that what he said he would do, he has done, and what he says he’s going to do, he will do. And I love the book Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudham. And so a lot of it is really from him that I am talking about this subject. But. He says, for instance, if God could change for the better, that would mean he isn’t perfectly holy and 100% good currently. And we know that’s not true. And if he could change for the worst, while we don’t want to imagine the implications of that, but he he’s absolutely unchanging. And his being and his perfection and his promises. And he says this, and I love this quote. Passing of time does not add or detract from God’s knowledge. He knows all things, past, present and future, and knows them equally and vividly.

And I think it’s the Psalm 90 verse four that I was thinking of for 1000 years in your sights are but as yesterday when it is past. And I say these things because I think it helps us to trust and rejoice in God’s character, but also because there may be a temptation to think he’s forgotten about my desires. Or, like I said at the beginning, I’m running out of time. Does God know that? Of course he does. But his timing, we think we know in our head. His timing is perfect, but do we act like it’s perfect? And you may think I’m just spinning around on the planet and things feel so arbitrary, but they’re not. And just to think about how far above our understanding God is when it comes to time.

For instance, in John 8:58, Jesus says before Abraham was I am, and that implies continuing present existence. God never began to exist. He created all things. Before He made the universe, there was no matter, and then He created all things. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, so He made the beginning. Which I think is really interesting that if you study physics, apparently it says that matter and time and space must all occur together. If there is no matter, there can be no space or time either. So before he created the universe, before there was time. And not in the way we understand it or live in it from moment to moment to moment. In our day year, God always existed without beginning and without end and without being influenced by time. We feel full tilt influenced by time, pressed by it demands on our time. Time shows on our faces with our age. But just like the rest of creation, time depends on God to keep existing. So God is always present and relating to time and created time in a way we don’t understand. And Jesus is outside of time, but he’s the creator and present in time and he’s with me and he’s with you. And I just love that expansive view of God, but also the personal moment by moment.

And just a couple of examples I would just love to share. According to and I’m This is the MacArthur Study Bible. But the first biblical mention of marking time is the story of Hezekiah wanting to be healed in second Kings 20:8 through 11. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, what is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the House of the Lord the third day? Then Isaiah said, This is the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do the thing which he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward 10 degrees or go backward 10 degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down 10 degrees. No, but let the shadow go backward 10 degrees. So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and he brought the shadow 10 degrees backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of a has. So that’s one example of Hezekiah. Requested a marking of time to confirm the Lord had promised to heal him.

I love that, and I also love Joshua 10:12. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel. Sun stands still over Gibian and Moon in the valley of Azulon. The Earth actually. So this is from the notes either stop revolving or more likely, the Sun moved in the same way to keep perfect pace with the battlefield. The moon also ceased its orbiting. This permitted Joshua’s troops time to finish the battle with complete victory. So I just pause and really think about that. God is all powerful. He moves the shadows, the sun, the moon, the stars. He can stop the earth from revolving, or move the sun in the same pattern, or the earth to accomplish something, like a sign to the king that he’ll be healed all the way to a battle that God desired a certain outcome for. So when we doubt, and I know we do. We’ve got to get that big picture of God’s power, but also his particular love and care for us when it comes to timing.

So you think about how specific it was for Hezekiah, for one man who thought he was running out of time and he wanted more time. And the Lord told him that he would add to his days 15 years. And so that’s a specific block of time. And God had mapped out certain times and certain seasons for him and for each of us, for our lives. He does that as well, specifically for his purposes. So I think it’s just important to think of pressing in and submitting to God’s timing in every aspect of your life. And I say that to you. I say it to myself. Because like I said on the onset, not liking the timing of something, even as a single person, it just takes on a different form when you’re married. And just like we’ve talked about before, if you’re discontent in your singleness to the point you’re sinning, you’ll be discontented in some form in your marriage. So all of our sins and struggles just transfer right on over to our new experience or circumstance. So in the same way I just railed sometimes about God’s timing not bringing me a husband, well, now I have other things that I have the same concept, right? Why hasn’t this happened yet? Or why hasn’t that happened yet? Well, because the Lord has not decreed it.

And on a personal note, ladies, this type of thing just plagues me. I’m always a day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. I feel like that all the time. And pardon the pun, but it’s the type of thing where I go to plant a plant. I’ve had it sitting on my porch for three weeks and then I finally plant it and someone will come along and say, you know, that’s the wrong season to plant hibiscus or whatever. So I mean, I have a black thumb like I said, so it doesn’t really matter, but. Or I’ll write an article for a certain site and then I work on it. I try to get it perfect. Then I go back to the website to submit it. Oh well, the window is closed, so we’re not taking the articles anymore or whatever. So that is my experience and timing. I’m always just just out of whack. But I have to go back and say no, it’s not. If I believe in God’s sovereignty, it’s not. Everything is happening exactly correctly on God’s time. Timetable, Whether it’s on a macro level or a micro level in my own life, thank you for sharing those examples of how God is in complete sovereign control of time.

Can you also share some stories of God’s perfect and precise timing in the Bible? Right. I love the, well, Old Testament battles where either they did go up or they didn’t go up at precisely the right time. And then when you think about Abraham, when God says to Abraham in Genesis 17:21. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year. And I love set time next year. It means appointed time appointed, meeting a sacred season, a set time. And then of course, God sent his Son at the precise right time. Circumstances surrounding Jesus breaking through and entering into the world was a precise right time. So if you want to be encouraged, I would say go through scripture and just really note all of those particular moments.

And one of my very, very favorites is in John 4. It tells the story of when the nobleman asked Jesus to heal his son, who was at the point of death. And the nobleman was apparently part of the group of the Galileans who were interested in Jesus, but not really as Messiah, but as somebody who could meet their needs. So here he comes, and he implores Christ, and he begs him repeatedly, and in verse 49 it says the nobleman said to him, Sir, come down before my child dies, Jesus said to him, go your way, your son lives. So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, Your son lives. Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better, and they said to him Yesterday at the 7th hour the fever left him, so the father knew. It was at that same hour in which Jesus said to him, your son lives, and he himself believed in his whole. Household and I just love that because I think about here’s this man and he wanted to know the exact time and he wanted to be assured and he wanted those things to to fit together and I think wow. I mean did it really matter? His son was healed what’s the big deal. But God knew that that was really important to him as part of his needing to come out of his unbelief and truly believe. And so he gave that to him, and yes, the 7th hour. He improved, and that’s precisely the time that he was healed. And so I think that’s God’s sweet intervention to shore up this man’s lingering unbelief. And that’s just the kindness of God and how particular he is in every moment. So I think that’s just a praiseworthy part of his character and to remember that, that he knows what we need. He supplies what we need. He is intimately concerned and involved with what we need, if you will. And so those are the kind of stories about timing that I just find so beautiful.

So how do we train our minds and hearts to respond rightly when we’re confused about God’s timing or we’re struggling with impatience? Honestly, when I was single, I hated it when people said in relation to beating someone. It’s just not God’s timing. Because of course I understand that in theory, and I know, or I knew at the time, of course they’re right. But it just never made it any easier. So standing though on this side of the equation, of course it’s true. It’s just sometimes difficult to receive, especially when it’s something that you so, you know, desperately desire. And the longer the years go, the more concerned you get. Of course, I fully understand that. But I look at it now, and I realized that God could have in those years been protecting me, and probably was, from things that might have been too much to bear. And so again, he sees all of it differently. We must remember that and we must receive that and believe that and that He is orchestrating events exactly according to His glory and our good 100%.

And so you might not see it that way in your life right now. And of course that applies to a number of different circumstances. But that’s where we have to trust the Lord for his plan. I think about marrying my husband so late. Like I said, I was almost 40. But when I think about it now, let’s just say I met him 10 years before I did. I was 29 instead of 39, and his kids were little instead of teenagers. That kind of stress dealing with young step kids being newly married could have sent me over the edge, I don’t know. But God, God does. And he knew. And so he’s doing things that were steering me around certain circumstances for my good things, of course, that I’ll never even know how how often he put obstacles to different relationships. For very good reason. So when we think about it as thinking about it more as though not what he is withholding from me, but how he is orchestrating events in order to do the best for me in the situation and he never gives us something, you know the temptation that is too much to bear. So there are things that are too much to bear for us. We don’t know our hearts enough. We don’t know how we’re going to react to something enough. We don’t know how much we can take. But the Lord does. So putting it more in a place of God’s goodness and mercy than what is he withholding from me?

And so for impatience I would say you know think about the disciples prayer and Jesus says this is how you pray Luke 11:3 give us this day. Our Daily Bread. Slow it down and walk it daily. And don’t miss all of his goodness and blessings right here for you today. Because remember, the natural man is inclined to paint all the bad and focus on that. Isn’t that true? It’s our Eve syndrome, right? I can eat of any tree except for that one. So let me focus on the one thing that isn’t available to me right now. And the other thing I think of is that all events are preappointed, Every single one. So your worry or your struggle or your impatience over God’s timing will achieve nothing, nothing, right? Because Acts 17:26, and I’ve always loved this first, Paul says. And he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined that they’re preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. I love that. To me, it’s so encouraging and comforting because it means it’s determined. It’s preappointed. Our times are in His hands when we’re born, when we die, when you meet your husband or when you’ll have kids, it’s all in his plan.

And so I think it’s important just to make sure that we’re not doubting God’s timing because we we do that often. And again, ladies, just like I said, I still do, that I was doubting timing before I was married. That didn’t change anything. Being being married has not stopped me from doubting his timing because, you know, we just think about again, it’s a temptation. It’s a temptation to think that his timing isn’t perfect and right. We say that sometimes about let’s just take death, for instance. You know, some, they were taken too soon. Maybe we’ll say that, oh, this person was taken too soon or that person was taken too, too soon. And I’m actually going to Germany next month. So I’ve been doing all this research on the Cold War and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and being a hero of the faith and all of that. And I think about this just in relation to that. He was at the Flossenberg concentration camp and they hung him in the gallows 2 weeks before they were liberated. So you look at something like that through that lens and you say, Lord, we could have benefited so much more from, you know, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and what he had to say and this big hero of the faith, 2 weeks, 2 weeks. And they were liberated. So through our natural eye we say, why did that happen? But through God’s eyes, it’s totally different and it’s the same concept as justice, you know, the same thing. You look around and you see all of this injustice in the world that we see through our eyes. But God sees it differently, and he is doing a different thing, and it’s different than we can see. And that’s where that piece of trusting him comes in so very readily. And we really need to embrace that. And we see often how we don’t, because we can see our impatience and we can see our doubting and we can see, oh Lord, Are you sure? Is this how this is supposed to happen? Are you sure? Of course he is. But it doesn’t stop us from that questioning desire, you know, and that sometimes just distrust that we know better. And that’s just our human nature. And our sinful man thinks that we do, we really do. So it’s putting that off and increasing our our trust.

So good. And one practical thing that I love doing is just going outside on a clear night and looking at the stars. Reminding myself of the greatness and power and awesomeness of God and that his knowledge is infinitely beyond my mind and his wisdom and his plans. And you just regain perspective on how great God is, how wise, how loving, how powerful He is. And how finite and small. And yet he cares about our lives. He cares about the details he’s orchestrating. He’s providentially in control of everything. And we live by faith, not by sight. Like you said, Lynn, It just comes down to trusting God, trusting his character that we choose to believe what he says rather than what we see.

And another verse that I love is. First Peter 5:6 and seven. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares about you. I love that you humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. You understand that you are man, that you are not God, and then he will exalt you at the proper time, or he’ll bring his plans together for you at the proper time. And when you’re worried and concerned, you cast your anxiety on him because you you’re confident that he cares for you.

Exactly. And be excited about his timing and watching him work, because how glorious is that when those fantastic moments do happen and you think, oh, that was only the hand of God or oh look at how the Lord moved in that situation And I can see it and it’s just so fantastic. And so for us to have that, that excitement and to know he is working and then to give him the glory because we’re watching him work and it’s much more glorifying to the Lord when we’re instead of being down about it or worried about it or not thinking that it’s the right timing that we say, oh wow, Lord, you are so magnificent and your plan is so perfect that when all of this comes to pass, I can’t wait to turn around and say, wow, look at what God did. Look at that exact, exact right timing. Look at this, look at that. And so that shows, I think, that total trust in him and that childlike faith and the giving him the glory he’s due. Honestly. Because when we think about our lives and we think about going about our daily life, how much more glory is he due? I mean, we could never give him enough. And so take those little moments to say, I’m not going to worry about it, Lord, as a matter of fact, I’m going to turn it around and say, what do you have for me this day? What do you have? And I’m going to be excited about what those opportunities are going to look like.

I also want to say this, when we think about time, just single or married, our our mission is the same, right? What are we supposed to be about, single or married? And I think that this is really important, especially just in the times we’re living in. John, 9:4-5 says this is Jesus. I must work the works of him who sent me. As long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. And so Jesus was saying he only had a short time to fulfill his mission and this is how we should think about our lives in general, right? The night is coming is in reference to his death and that’s pretty it’s pretty haunting verse. The Lord knew he had three years and diligently needed to redeem the time and he was always carrying out the work the Father had given him to do. And I love this verse from JC Ryle Expository thoughts on the Gospel of John. And I just think it’s it’s wonderful for us to wrap our minds around it because this verse is very important to us. And this is what he says, the life we now live in the flesh. This is our day. So let us take care that we use it well for the glory of God and the good of our souls. Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling, while it is called today. There is no work nor labor in the grave toward which we are all fast hastening. Let us pray and read and hear God’s word, and do good and our generation like men who never forgot that the night is at hand. So our time, ladies, is very short. Our daylight will soon be gone. Opportunities once lost can never be retrieved, and I love this. Then let us resist procrastination as we would resist the devil, whatever our hands find to do so. Think about it, girls. Your work, your ministry, proclaiming the gospel, loving your family. Do it with all your might. The night comes when no man can work, and I think that’s just a very sobering truth.

And then the other one that I love is John 11:9 through 10, Jesus answered, Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. So the time would come, which is the night, by God’s design that his earthly work would end and he would stumble in death. So Jesus was stressing that as long as he was on earth doing God’s will, even at this late time in his ministry, he would safely complete God’s purposes. And I think that’s encouraging for whatever stage of life you’re in right now. If you’re single and really wanting to be married and have a family at this time, if that’s not true, you are still fulfilling God’s purpose. If you are a believer, you will complete what God has for you. And I just find that super encouraging. And so we need to redeem the time, right? Because Ephesians 5:15 says see then that you walk circumspectively not as fools but as wives and 16 redeeming the time because the days are evil. So I think that’s just an important truth. Single or not, God has given us a purpose and he is going to bring that to pass, and we are fulfilling his purpose here on the earth and we just really need to focus about that and be busy about that and trust his timing.

Yeah. And I love Lynn, what you’ve said before about when we talked about what does it look like to wait on the Lord, that it’s not just sitting around waiting for God’s events to happen, but waiting is a verb. It’s an active thing that we’re doing, we are active in the waiting and we know our mission, we know Our Calling as believers and you pray for wisdom on how you specifically can live that out in your context and what God is, the good works that God has called you to do and walk in them faithfully. And yeah, we can just be excited about what God’s doing. And I really appreciate, Lynn, how you also just brought out that we look at the future and hope. And excitement about what God’s doing. And you know the the title of this podcast, Smiling at the future. Like we’re we’re excited about what God is going to do for us in the future. We look back and we see his Providence in our lives, in the past. And so in the waiting and looking at God’s timing, we can just trust him and be excited for seeing those things unfold in our lives. So yeah, just a. Helpful perspective as as we’re trying to wrap our minds around how God interacts in time in our lives.

Exactly. And I do love that you said that that’s true. Smiling at the future. I love that God gave that, particularly in Scripture talking about the Proverbs 31 woman. So there is that aspect of this needs to be true about us as women. And I think worry and anxiety and those kinds of things are probably more true about women just in general. And so I think it’s wonderful how the Lord put that there for women, Proverbs 31 women to look at the future and and smile exactly. That means that we can be excited about it and we do not have to worry. We can put that off and we can live expectantly, and we can live hopefully, and we can still be praying for husbands and children if we want those and don’t have those yet. The Lord knows that, and he knows those desires, and those are great desires. But I do love that. I love that truth, that to smile at the future means that you’re relaxed, it means that you’re joyful, and means that you’re anticipatory of God’s plans. And all of that really does bring him glory.

Amen. What a perfect note to this discussion on Lynn. I’m so encouraged by you and your example and how much God taught you in your season of singleness and waiting on the Lord and then seeing how his plans have unfolded in your life and how you’re able to encourage other women by your story. So thank you for sharing your heart today. Do you have any parting thoughts you want to leave us with?

No, I think just exactly. The encouragement is always I go back to that God is so intimately involved in your circumstances and your desires and to not miss what He’s teaching you on this side of it, so that everything you learn you can bring to a marriage and a family if the Lord has that for you. And I always do believe that that’s a sincere true desire of your heart. I can’t promise anything only God can promise. But there were those moments that I felt and I thought this is just never going to happen. And I was so discouraged. And I know that might be you listening right now, but don’t use that absolute language. Never is a really long time. We always say that in counseling. Don’t use absolutely or never or any of that because it’s not accurate. Just because it hasn’t happened today does not mean that it won’t happen tomorrow. And I love Spurgeon, who always says, and I’ve said this before, but delays are not denials, delays are not denials. And just get busy about thanking God for the fact that His mercy surrounds you. And he is doing things in your life that are necessary for you right now in the season that will help you in the future as a wife and a mom, and that you want to believe and trust him to a fuller and greater degree. And ladies, if being single in a single season helps you lean and trust the Lord and see newness in your relationship with Him, then that’s fantastic and that’s what you want. So better to be growing in Christ as he would have you now single, than being stagnant and not learning these great spiritual lessons that the Lord has just for you, just for you, right now. And that’s really crucial. So rejoice and don’t lose heart. You’re commanded not to lose heart. Luke 18:1 Jesus said, Frank, don’t lose heart.

Yes, So the verse that I love and I have in my car on my dash, I have it on my night stand. But. It’s Psalm 31:24. Be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord. So we’re hopeful. In our waiting, we take hearts. We are strong and courageous because it’s in the Lord. It’s not in ourselves, but we know who we’re trusting. Lynn, thank you for bringing those truths back and helping us refocus our perspective on the Lord, and not just on our circumstances, but trusting Him. That He is doing great and mighty things. And someday in eternity we are going to thank the Lord for exactly how He orchestrated the events of our lives. So thank you for helping us see that from His word. And it was a joy to sit down with you again today.

Well, it was my joy and delight as well and I love that yes Amen. The day where we are in eternity. And that will be sort of a picture of timelessness, if you will. I think there will be events that happen, but we won’t be pressed by time and we won’t ever have to say, oh, how long do I have to wait? And we won’t ever have to say that again. So we look forward to to eternity. That’s so true. And it was a blessing to speak with you and your listeners today. And Amen.