Who is Jonathan Edwards? He was a student of truth that entered Yale University at the age of 13.  “Many acquire Bible facts, but few connect in a genuine relationship with their heavenly Father.” Pastor Edwards was supremely focused on Christ and his goal to know and glorify God through Jesus Christ. In his sermons we find that Jonathan was a wise thinker, herald, pastor, and theologian all in one. He preached about the eternal cost of man’s sinful condition and the riches of Christ’s grace. A quick summary of one sermon on patience by Pastor Edwards. He expounded on the theme of divine timing and the importance of waiting in the context of FAITH. Modern culture values speed and immediate results, but God’s timing operates on a different plane—eternity. The delays we experience are not signs of neglect but are often His strategic way of preparing us for eternity. Key points of his sermon.

1. Divine Timing vs Human Expectations:  God’s delays are not due to a lack of love or interest but are often rooted in divine precision. When Jesus delayed His visit to Lazarus, it was to reveal His power through resurrection rather than mere healing.

2. Waiting as Preparation: Waiting is a classroom where faith is developed. God’s delays refine faith by teaching believers to trust and depend on Him rather than on their timelines or expectations.

3. Impatience is framed as a form of unbelief, a struggle against God’s rhythm. True FAITH is depicted as the ABILITY to worship and TRUST in silence. Waiting can be an act of devotion.

4. The Nature of God’s Delays are protective rather than punitive. The Israelites were led on a longer path to avoid battles they were unprepared for.  Divine delays can guard against the harm of rushing. We know not what to pray for, but the Spirit of God intercedes and His way prevails.

5. Maturity develops in the wait: The process of waiting cultivates more patience, humility, and obedience. Each moment of delay serves to deepen a believer’s character. God prepares the desires of our hearts to expand to include His perfect will and timing.

6. Transformative waiting shapes a believer as it tests their faith and character. When blessings arrive, they are often accompanied by a newfound perspective. The real miracle lies in the growth experienced during the honorable wait. God’s plan includes opportunities for spiritual development. Embrace waiting as a vital aspect of greater faith. Trust that Jesus is in the wait with you.

7. John 3:29-30 “The bride belongs to the Bridegroom. The friend who attends the Bridegroom waits and listens for Him, and is full of joy when he hears the Bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” His will be done.

God gives us MORE GRACE.   “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Eph 4

Jonathan Edwards, was a Puritan Preacher in the 1700s. He attended Yale at the age of 13 and later went on to become the president of Princeton college. He married his wife Sara in 1727 and they were blessed with eleven children. Mr. Edwards spent an hour conversing with his family and then praying a blessing over each child. The couple passed on a great, godly legacy, a generational blessing. Jonathan’s family tree: 1 U.S. Vice-President, 1 Dean of a law school, 1 dean of a medical school, 3 U.S. Senators, 3 governors, 3 mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 Military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen, and 285 college graduates. More than 1,400 of Edwards’ family is due to Sara Edwards prayers and influence. ❤️ Max Jukes’ family tree of 42 men in the New York prison system were traced back to him. Max and Jonathan lived in same century. The Jukes family was studied by sociologist R. L. Dugdale in 1877.

The Jukes’ descendants included: 7 murderers, 60 thieves, 190 prostitutes, 150 other convicts, 310 paupers, and 440 who were physically wrecked by addiction to alcohol. Of the 1,200 descendants that were studied, 300 died prematurely. These contrasting legacies provide an example of what some call the five-generation rule. “How a parent raises their child — the love they give, the values they teach, the emotional environment they offer, the Biblical education they provide — influences not only their children but the four generations to follow, either for good or evil.” Do you want a legacy of goodness? The choices we make today will determine the legacy we leave! God sees us, and He knows the desires of our hearts. 

We are to forgive as He forgives, and erase the offense. Our hearts are deceitful above all else and we admit that evil is cunning. The liar deceives even the elect. The road is narrow and few choose it. When the devil whispers that your way is best, tell the deceiver that you only go where Jesus sends you. We resist him, and he flees.

If you have ever felt God stop you on a path that looked beautiful, only to later realize He was saving you from yourself, praise God for it.  The Holy Spirit did not gently nudge you aside, He pulled you back into a closer relationship with God. We falsely assume anything that frustrates our dreams must be the enemy, because we secretly treat our desires as sacred.  The Holy Spirit does not obey our ambitions. He brings them before the will of the Father. When He sees that the future you are chasing would quietly bury your soul, He will not stand by while you dig your own grave. He will interfere. He will close what you keep trying to open and weaken what you insist on rebuilding. The Apostle Paul longed to go into certain regions to preach, yet Acts 16:7  “The spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Not demons, not persecution, but the Spirit blocked an apostle’s mission for a higher purpose. Our disappointments may have been the fingerprints of a God who has already read the final page of your story. Every disappointment carries two stories, the one you feel and the one God sees. You feel the sting of something precious slipping away. He sees the slow erosion of your soul if it stayed. You feel blocked by a closed door, but He knows there is a serpent coiled on the other side. You may feel humiliated because what you announced did not work. He knows that success in that direction would have swollen your pride until you could no longer hear His voice. What looks like punishment is often heaven cutting off a path that would have led you quietly away from Gods plan for you.

Jonathan Edwards, explores the concept of God’s perfect timing and challenges the human tendency to worship speed and measure success by how quickly things arrive. God’s delays are not a sign of negligence or rejection, but rather a strategic preparation for what His timing is designed to reveal. Delay is Prep School as it purifies the human desire to be in control. Waiting is a “classroom where heaven teaches faith. Waiting is a furnace of the soul where faith is purified” God delays not because He is slow, but because humans are “shallow” and need to be prepared. Jesus delayed His arrival to prevent the death of Lazarus. It was not a lack of love, but love itself, serving a purpose of resurrection over mere recovery. God delays to protect us from things we are not yet ready for. Impatience is framed as “unbelief wearing the mask of zeal.” When we refuse to trust God’s timing or rhythm, we make demands that heaven move according to our schedule. True faith clings to God as the soul refuses to complain. Worship in it’s purest form is in our waiting and trusting God in all things. Our slow motion surrender is made visible in the wait. It reveals what we truly believe about God when circumstances don’t change according to our timing. Divine delay exposes our hidden idols, such as dependence on results, addiction to control, and obsession with understanding. “Not my will, but Thy will be done as I lean on God and not my own understanding.” The Spirit of God cuts through our deceitful heart with surgical precision. The roots of our pride are slashed with the truth that God reveals in self examination.
Our spiritual maturity is not measured by speed, the size of our ministry, but by how deeply we depend on God and trust Him. Waiting is the soil where maturity grows and teaches us patience, humility, and obedience. Ultimately, God’s timing is meant to improve souls. Our Father focuses on developing our character, patience. His purpose in the wait is that we reflect Jesus to the watching world. Rather than just delivering desired outcomes, the wait transforms our desires. The miracle is never the result, but the person we become while waiting. Our suffering and patient waiting becomes a testimony for others. We then showcase God’s trust worthiness and shatter the world’s logic of immediacy. God is never late because He is timeless, and His delays are always designed with a purpose of love and transformation.