When God Moves Suddenly: Trusting God’s Timing

When Our Lives Change Suddenly

Our lives can change in an instant. Sudden changes can be good, like going from sick to being well or from poor to having a good job, but they can also be painful. We can go from a successful career to being jobless, or we may have someone we love one moment and then suddenly they are gone. Some change is tragic, but we may still learn and grow from it. God can bring about a change that we could not bring about ourselves. The Bible gives us many examples of what happens when God moves suddenly.

When God Moves Suddenly

In the Bible, the word suddenly often precedes an important work of God. Suddenly, the angels appeared to the shepherds in Luke. Suddenly, the sound of a rushing wind announced the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Acts. Suddenly, a light from Heaven came upon Saul on the road to Damascus, and he was converted. But Scripture also uses suddenly in another way.

When Suddenly Is a Warning

Suddenly can also be a warning to be prepared. We are told the Lord's return can be sudden, and we must be ready at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:2; Matthew 24:44). Many times we are told that destruction and judgment may come suddenly. "...I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly" (Jeremiah 15:8). The suddenness of God's actions also reminds us that His timing is not ours.

God's Timing Is Not Ours

We are told to be patient and wait on the Lord (Psalm 27:14; 2 Peter 3:8-9). Scripture says that what may seem like a delay to us is not a delay to God. Since God sees all, He knows the perfect time for things to happen, both the good things and the things we do not understand which may seem bad. God sees the outcomes of the things we live through. He sees the spiritual growth that can come from waiting, if that is what we need.

The change may look different in each life, but the lesson is the same: we do not always know when God will act or what means He will use. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD (Isaiah 55:8).

When We Wait for God to Act

Waiting on God may be difficult. We may wait for years for healing and then wake up one morning to a new world full of health. When healing comes suddenly, we are often surprised. I remember having debilitating back pain and praying for it to be healed only to realize a few hours later that it was gone. I didn't doubt that God could heal, but the suddenness of it was startling to me.

Perhaps you have prayed for a long time about a job. Maybe you have looked everywhere, sent in dozens of resumes, and known exactly where you wanted to work. Then one day the door opened to the very place you had hoped and prayed about. It makes you marvel at God.

Many parents pray for the conversion of their children. Often we think we know what needs to happen to bring them to the Lord. But then, suddenly, in a way we never imagined, the Lord works. Maybe He works through the influence of a friend, a circumstance, an open Bible on a table, or in a hundred other ways that cause them to turn to Him.

Possibly you are like Hannah in the Old Testament, the mother of Samuel, praying for children and close to giving up but then, suddenly, unexpectedly, you become pregnant. Does pregnancy come at a time when you think you should have children, as a young woman? Maybe not, but children are in God's timing (1 Samuel 1:10-20).

Financial circumstances can change suddenly and often in a totally unforeseen way. We are suddenly blessed and we don't know why. God's plans are greater for us than our own. God has seen our need and responded to it. Sometimes we recognize God's provision immediately, and sometimes we only understand it much later.

When God Brings Good From the Unexpected

As Christians, we pray for this. This is always our hope. We see, through these things, that God is working in our lives and in the world. He has not forgotten us. When things seem impossible, we serve a God who tells us nothing is impossible with Him.

We serve a God who is all-powerful and beyond our understanding. How can bad things be used for good in the life of a believer? It is hard to understand until you live through it. A loved one dies. Where is the good in that? God knows, even if we never see it. We all have an appointed time (Ecclesiastes 3:2).

I have sat through many sermons at a faithful believer's funeral. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving. I always pray that someone, in some way, will respond to that call. It may be the only time they feel the move of God.

When We Recognize God's Work

But when God moves suddenly, do we put it down to good luck or our own efforts, or do we see it as God's work in our lives? Even at times when we are unfaithful to Him, not obedient to Him, and not seeking Him, He may provide for our health, our financial circumstances, or our careers. Only when we look back on life do we understand that He was always there, caring for us in the midst of our disobedience.

Trusting God's Timing

We also have to understand that His patience with us will not last forever. Our sin will be punished and punishment may come suddenly. Our lack of faith and disobedience will be dealt with righteously by God (Romans 2:5). He tells us that "today is the day" to live for Him. We are not promised tomorrow, because we cannot see the future, but He can.

In all our prayers it is so important that we pray believing He is able to act suddenly, while trusting His will and His timing. Prayerfully, we remember the words of our Savior before He went to the cross, "Not my will, Father, but Your will be done." Sometimes I think God delays His answer to our prayers until we truly mean what we pray when we say, "Your will be done."

And when God acts suddenly, things change in our lives: healing may come, jobs may be found, children may be born, or loved ones may be saved. Our desires themselves may change. We want what God wants more than what we want. The Holy Spirit transforms us in ways we can't imagine. Sometimes the greatest change is not in our circumstances but in our hearts. God can suddenly give us a new desire, a new direction, or a deeper willingness to trust Him.

Change can sometimes be painful but still work for good. I remember my dear Aunt Edna. She was a faithful servant of God. Aunt Edna had to go live in a nursing home. Her life was suddenly upended in a way most of us would consider terrible. But what did she do with this sudden change? She rolled her wheelchair from room to room, encouraging the other patients. She shared God's love in the circumstances where she found herself.

I was a child when she died, but I have always remembered that about her. We can lean on God to help us grow or we can become bitter and angry about the things that happen to us. We can believe that God doesn't love us because our prayers are not answered immediately or we can trust that He knows what is best for us in everything that happens.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

How has God acted suddenly or unexpectedly in your life? Did you recognize that it was He who worked the change? God may move suddenly, but He is also working while we wait. We don't control His timing, and sometimes the greatest change He makes is in us.

If you aren't a Christian, think about how suddenly things can change. Listen to the Holy Spirit speak to you and live for the God who loves you before it's too late and sudden destruction comes.

Let's always stand in awe of God's ability to bring change suddenly. I want to leave you with Isaiah 48:3. God speaks and says,

"I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass."