Never Too Late — TDW Kids

God's Perfect Timing

☐

On the way to Jairus' house, Jesus stopped for a woman in the crowd. While He was still speaking, the news came that it was too late. But with Jesus, it is never too late. His timing is always right.

It looked too late. The messenger said, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher” (Luke 8:49). He thought there was nothing more Jesus could do. He was wrong.

A promise that took years. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. They waited for many years, until they were very old. It looked far too late for a baby.

At the set time. “For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him” (Genesis 21:2). God was not late. Isaac came exactly when God said he would.

Forgotten in prison. Joseph was in prison for something he did not do. He helped the king's chief butler and asked him to remember him (Genesis 40:14). “Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (Genesis 40:23).

Two more years. Joseph waited “two full years” more (Genesis 41:1). Then Pharaoh had a dream, the butler finally remembered, and God lifted Joseph out of prison to rule over Egypt and save many lives.

God meant it for good. Later Joseph told his brothers, “but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). In all those years of waiting, God was working.

God's ways are higher. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord (Isaiah 55:8). We see a small piece of what is happening. God sees all of it.

The fullness of time. God sent Jesus at exactly the right moment in history. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4). God was not late, and He was not early.

Working while we wait. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). God is busy even when we cannot see Him working.

Do not give up. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). Due season means the right time, the time God chooses.

Time for both. The stop on the road was not wasted. Jesus healed a woman who had been sick for twelve years, and then He still raised Jairus' daughter. He had time for both of them.

What we learn. Jesus is never too late. When His answer seems slow, He is still loving us and still working for our good.

What to do. Think of something you have been praying about for a long time. Keep praying, and thank God that His timing is perfect.

Jairus learned something every believer learns sooner or later: Jesus does not always move at the speed we want. The Bible shows again and again that His timing is perfect, even when it looks late.

Kairos. The New Testament has a word for the right moment: kairos (say: KY-ross), a set time, the time God chooses. Galatians 6:9 promises a harvest “in due season,” and that is this word. Jesus began His preaching by announcing that God's chosen time had come (Mark 1:15).

The fullness of time. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4). Centuries of waiting for the Messiah ended at the exact moment God had planned.

Sarah (Genesis 21:1-2). “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.” Isaac was born “at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” Abraham was seventy-five when God first called him and one hundred when Isaac was born (Genesis 12:4; 21:5). The promise came on God's schedule, not theirs.

Joseph (Genesis 40:23–41:1). Joseph asked the chief butler to remember him (40:14). “Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” Then came “the end of two full years.” Those years were not wasted. When Pharaoh dreamed, Joseph was ready, and God raised him up to save many lives.

God's purpose in the wait. Joseph later told his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). The waiting was part of the plan.

Luke 8 in the same light. The stop for the woman did not cost Jairus his daughter. It meant that he and his wife saw Jesus raise the dead, not only heal the sick.

Higher ways. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways” (Isaiah 55:9). A delay is not a sign that God has forgotten us. It means we cannot see the whole plan.

Romans 8:28. “All things work together for good to those who love God.” This does not say that all things are good. It says that God works in all things for the good of His people.

Application. When an answer to prayer seems late, tell God honestly how you feel, and then keep listening to His promises. Time spent waiting on God is never wasted.

How to Wait on the Lord

☐

Waiting is hard for everyone. The Bible does not pretend that it is easy. It shows us how to wait on the Lord with hope.

How long? David prayed, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). David was honest with God about how he felt.

Then he trusted. At the end of the same psalm David said, “But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation” (Psalm 13:5). His feelings did not change God's love.

Be brave while you wait. “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart” (Psalm 27:14). Courage means being brave even when you are scared.

New strength. “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31). God gives strength to people who wait for Him.

Rest in Him. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7). Waiting on God is not the same as worrying. It is resting in His care.

Tell Him everything. “Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him” (Psalm 62:8). You can tell God what you are waiting for and how you feel about it.

Pray instead of worrying. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Anxious means worried. Supplication means asking God for help.

Peace while you wait. The next verse promises that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

New every morning. God's “compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day of waiting comes with fresh mercy from God.

He keeps His word. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

The biggest wait. All Christians are waiting for Jesus to come back. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

What we learn. Waiting on the Lord means trusting Him, praying honestly and holding on to His promises until His answer comes.

What to do. Choose one of these verses and write it on a card. When you feel tired of waiting, read it and pray.

The psalms are full of people waiting on God. They teach us that waiting is not doing nothing. It is one of the ways we trust Him.

Qavah. The Hebrew word for wait in Psalm 27:14 and Isaiah 40:31 is qavah (say: kah-VAH). It means to wait with hope, to look eagerly for someone you expect to come.

Complaint that turns to trust (Psalm 13). David asks “How long” four times in two verses (13:1-2). By verse 5 he says, “But I have trusted in Your mercy.” Nothing around him had changed yet. David brought his complaint to God instead of running away from Him.

Courage (Psalm 27:14). “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart.” The command to wait comes wrapped around a promise. The strength comes from God, not from our own willpower.

Eagles (Isaiah 40:31). Isaiah spoke to people who felt that God had forgotten them (Isaiah 40:27). His answer was that the Creator “gives power to the weak” (40:29), and that those who wait on Him “Shall renew their strength.” The Hebrew word for renew can mean to exchange: we bring our weakness, and He gives His strength.

Waiting without fretting (Psalm 37:7). “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret.” Fretting means worrying until it wears you out. Trust and worry pull in opposite directions.

Prayer that guards the heart. Paul wrote Philippians from prison, while he was waiting to learn whether he would live or die (Philippians 1:20-21). He still wrote, “Be anxious for nothing.” The promise is not that the wait will end tomorrow, but that God's peace “will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

A faithful God (Hebrews 10:23). “He who promised is faithful.” Our hope rests on God's character, not on how quickly things happen.

The church is waiting too. Christ “will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” to “those who eagerly wait for Him” (Hebrews 9:28). Every smaller wait in life is practice for this great one.

Application. Write down one thing you are waiting on God for. Pray Psalm 13 in your own words, honestly, and then end the way David did, with a sentence of trust.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.