3 Signs God Is Saying, “Soon”

Here are 3 signs that often mean God is saying, “Soon.”

1. If You’re Asking God for Something He’s Prepared You for, Oftentimes He Is Saying, “Soon”

When a soldier enters the military, they are not immediately shipped to the frontlines of the battlefield. Rather, they first enter into training. Usually they are broken down through hard physical labor and taught how to follow commands from leadership (i.e. basic training). Then they are taught some tactical skills and more advanced training. After the soldier has been taught to be a good soldier, only then are they sent onto the real battlefield. When a soldier knows there’s a war his country is in and he knows his time of training is almost complete, he may not know his exact deployment date, but he’s knows it’s soon.

Likewise, God always has work for his soldiers to do. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37-38, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” God will first train you for the tasks he has planned for you. But if you sense your training is almost complete in a particular area of your life, prepare yourself for deployment, for he always has a good work for you to do.

As Ephesians 2:10 states, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

2. If You’re Wondering When You Will Reap What You’ve Sown, God Is Saying, “Soon”

The biblical principle of “reaping what you sow” is both exhilarating and terrifying. It holds both a promise of reward for the good we’ve done and a promise of consequences for the bad we’ve done. For as Galatians 6:7-10 teaches us:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Think of your future as you plant your seeds in the present. You can choose to bring a blessing into your life or a curse into your life based upon what you do right now. What you sow today will be reaped very soon, both for good and bad. May we take God’s warning seriously, working diligently for him so that we can reap a harvest of righteousness for eternity. As James 3:16-18 says:

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

3. If You’re Wondering When Your Pain Will End, God Is Saying, “Soon”

Oftentimes our earthly struggles come to end on earth. Perhaps you are seeking to be faithful in your singleness, but you are suffering as you desire to be married. Most likely, in God’s timing, you will be married one day. Perhaps you are struggling in your career, seeking employment that you enjoy and that can provide what you need. If you work hard and use God’s wisdom, usually he will bless your career endeavors. Or maybe you are praying for someone who is lost and it’s killing you inside to see them turn their back on God. It’s possible this person repents of their sin and turns to Jesus one day. If something in your life is causing you pain and you are asking God, “When will it end?” God is often saying, “Soon.”

At other times, however, the pain may last on this earth. God doesn’t always give us what we hoped for in this life. It’s in these moments we have to remember where our true hope lies. Even if you have to live this life with a pain that does not vanish until the next life, God is still saying “Soon” to you. For as 2 Peter 3:8-10 explains:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

In that future grace that awaits, Revelation 21:4 adds, “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”