Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
    it speaks of the end
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
    it will certainly come
    and will not delay.

Recently I read in a book – and I believe this is true – that many of us are carrying promises from God in our hearts. But, the author argued, it can take so long for the fulfillment to appear, that we may lose heart and start to think it’s not going to happen. However, he said, if the promise is from God it will come to pass,

For ourselves, though, we don’t like to spend too much time in the waiting room.

Verse 3 reads like this in ‘The Message’:

This vision-message is a witness
    pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
    And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
    It’s on its way. It will come right on time.

The last sentence of verse 3 is paradoxical. It seems to say that even though, from our perspective, an answer may seem a long time in coming; from God’s point of view it will always be bang on time.

PRAYER: Lord help me to wait for you and not try to impose my timescale on your purposes.