Exodus 12:40
“Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
This passage speaks to God’s timing. The phrase “to the day” indicates that. God knew what He was doing. They were in Egypt 430 years. In the grand design, Egypt was a type of “the world” and being in Egypt of symbolic of being in bondage to sin. The gravity of Adam’s sin was so great and pervasive. Everyone was effected and all people suffer under it. Their time in Egypt symbolized humanity’s suffering in sin. Then comes the passover lamb, then deliverance. At the right time in the future, Jesus will come and die for the sins of the world.
God may seem slow, but He is never late. Just as He was controlling things in Egypt to the very day, so He will guide us individually as we are submitted to Him. He has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” This is exciting. However, it often doesn’t feel like it. And it usually seems to take longer. We need to trust Him.
We do partipate in the process of His timing. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” God respects us enough to give us choices and the final say. We aren’t programmed robots. We are influenced, but mainly by our own permission. Psalm 37:4 gives a great phrase to describe what it’s like to make Jesus lord. It says, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” It’s not forced obediance. The better we know the Lord, the more submitting to Him is delighting in Him. “Giving us the desires of our heart” means two things, it’s not that He simply gives us what we want. It’s as we delight in Him, He gives us new desires that are more aligned with His ways. He then fulfills them in His timing. It’s a beautiful thing that He wants to do with a life. Thank You, God that You care so much for us and want to be involved in our lives.