"In A Little While"

“In A Little While”

What does “In A Little While” mean?

What an honest question. We all have our own meaning for “in a little while,” but when it comes from God, we really don’t know what it means.

In John 16:16-18, we read a very honest response from the disciples that we can all understand.

(Of course this is all pertaining to Jesus’s death, but it lands the timing topic so well)

John 16:16-18 - “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”

Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

How honest is that?

“We don’t understand.”

Jesus goes on to explain what He means, but the timing is still given as “in a little while.”

God’s timing has never been our timing, and because of that, we have so many questions.

Over and over again, Jesus has to explain different things to the disciples. Sometimes His explanations are pretty straightforward, and other times, they require the disciples to trust Him without having every detail.

We see another example of this in Matthew 24:36 when Jesus talks about His return.

He says that in Matthew 24:36 - “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.  Only the Father knows.”

I do find it funny that at the end of John 16 in verses 29-30 the disciples say, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”

We question everything, don’t we?

We do this until we feel like we have enough information to understand. But so often throughout Scripture, we are guided to listen and obey. It’s okay to question, but eventually we have to walk by faith and not by sight or by our own understanding. God will give us what we need as we take steps in obedience.

So that phrase, “in a little while,” might actually frustrate us and drive us crazy as we seek more understanding and answers, but it is in those words where we sometimes need to simply be.

We need to be patient and know that God’s Word is true. If He said, “in a little while,” then we can wait expectantly, knowing that what He said will happen.

When I was younger, my parents would sometimes tell us what they were planning on doing, and when it didn’t happen, we were disappointed.

When I had my own kids, this was something I knew I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to plan something, tell them about it, and then have them upset when it didn’t happen.

I did fail at this a few times, but I got better and decided to let them know that I wouldn’t plan things too far in advance because so many different things could happen between now and then.

No expectations were set, so hopefully no disappointment would take place.

Well... hopefully no disappointment would take place.

It still does though.

I tell you this because it makes me think about how God reveals His plans. He has them, but He doesn’t always share them with us fully until the time is right.

Sure, we have our own expectations, but those fall on us and not Him. Our trust and hope are in who God is and what He will do. Plus, we read His Word and see that when He makes a promise, He keeps it.

That’s another thing...

I don’t make promises. Even though there are times I’m sure I could keep them, there could be that one time when I don’t, and that can cause issues with trust as well.

The Bible teaches us a lot, and boundaries are all through it.

So, when Jesus says, “in a little while,” He is not trying to frustrate us. Is He teaching us patience? Maybe so.

But He is also teaching His disciples—and us—that we don't always have to know every detail in order to trust what God has said.

Jesus repeatedly tells us that He speaks what the Father gives Him to speak.

How great would that kind of connection and complete trust be? Wow! That’s a whole other topic, but it does help us here.

Jesus trusted the Father completely, and we are called to do the same.

That changes how I hear the words “in a little while.”

Instead of only hearing uncertainty, we can hear hope.

Instead of focusing on what we don’t know, we can focus on the One who does.

There will always be things about God’s timing that we don’t understand. There will be things He has promised that we are still waiting to see fulfilled. And yes, we are still expectantly waiting for the day Christ returns.

But “in a little while” reminds us that God has not forgotten what He said.

We may not have all the information. We may not know when. We may not understand how.

But we know Him.

And because we know Him, we can trust that what He has said will absolutely come to pass.