The Funniest Thing God Ever Says

Many times in my life, someone has prophesied over me, or God has spoken something to me personally, and I believed the fulfillment was imminent. The verbiage seemed to point to something happening in the very near future, and I waited with expectancy for the big moment.

It didn’t come.

I waited longer. Still nothing.

I waited even longer. Crickets.

Even in times I was sure God was reassuring me of an event that was close at hand, I found myself disappointed when he didn’t do things according to my timeline.

I’ve discovered that the funniest thing God ever says is “soon.”

Over the years, he has used that word with me a number of times. It seems to be his standard answer for a lot of the questions I ask. (I ask a lot of questions when I get tired of waiting, and the number one question I ask is “When?!”)

I’ve found that God’s definitions are often different than mine, and his “soon” tends to mean “soon enough.” I tend to think “soon” should mean something more like, “tomorrow,” “next week,” or, at the very least, “within a year.” Sometimes God’s “soon” instead seems to indicate that the fulfillment will take place before I die.

When you consider how long God has been around compared to my short existence, he probably does mean “soon.” But my idea of “soon” is very different!

It says in 2 Peter:

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:8-9 NKJV

God always has a plan, even when it makes no sense to us. He always keeps his word, but sometimes it’s fulfilled differently than we expect – using different methods, through different people, and often in different timing.

When I was suffering from a chronic illness, God told me he was going to heal me in 2016. I was raring to go on January 1st. Nothing happened.

Then February passed. Nothing.

March, April, and May. Nada.

June and July went by. Not a hint of a difference. In fact, things were getting exponentially worse. (This is another thing that often happens when you get a word from God: the exact opposite seems to unfold!)

Then, August arrived, and so did my healing.  On August 7, 2016, I was healed instantly from a six-year chronic illness, and I’ve been symptom-free for eight years since. My healing was right on time, but not when I expected it.

That’s the way I’ve found God works most often. He comes through just how he said he would, but it usually doesn’t look just how we thought it would.

God’s “soon” might mean you’ll be waiting six more months or three more years or 40 more years. To a guy who’s been around since the beginning of time, those 40 years might seem like nothing, even if to us, they feel like an eternity. But if God said it, it’s as good as done. His word stands the test of time, even when the timing doesn’t make earthly sense. You might have to wait longer than you’d like, but if you stay the course, it’s coming.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Numbers 23:19 NKJV

I believe Smith Wigglesworth is credited as saying, “God said it; I believe it, and that settles it!”

The fulfillment of the words God has spoken over your life may not happen tomorrow. They may not happen according to your definition of “soon.” But if you keep trusting and you keep believing the words God has spoken, they will come to pass.

You shall see. Soon enough. 😊