Galatians 4:4 (NIV)
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, …
As I
wrap up my current interim assignment, I marvel again at God’s timing. God’s
timing is always right on, even when we can’t see it moving forward. Our
natural tendency is to expect God to adjust His plans to our timetable. But it
doesn’t work that way.
The
people of Israel waited a long time for God to send the Messiah. In retrospect,
we can see how God’s timing was perfect, but it didn’t look that way at the
time. Israel was a subjugated people. They were living under the rule of the Roman
Empire. They had lost their prominent role on the world stage and had become a
backwater province of a much larger empire. Yet, today we can see how strategic
the timing was for the advancement of the Gospel. Rome had provided a common
language, a relatively stable environment, as well as much improved
transportation. The Gospel was able to rapidly spread through the known world
because of these advantages.
As we
live in the interim time between Christ’s ascension and His return, we need to
trust God’s timing. As Peter put it, The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) Every
generation of the Church since the day of Christ’s ascension have been
wondering why Jesus has not come back yet. As we face more and more challenges
in our world, we too are tempted to cry out to God, What are you waiting for!!!
But God’s timing is perfect.
On a
less global scale, we need to learn to trust God’s timing for the events of our
lives. Right now, we are eagerly awaiting the birth of our fourth grandchild.
We would love to see him born sooner rather than later, but he will be born at
just the right time. As I look back over the past two years, I can see how God
lined things up for me and for the church I am serving to be able to get to the
place where we are today; welcoming a new pastor. Had we rushed into the
process, we would have missed the opportunity to call the man that we did; he
was not ready to take on this challenge a year ago. Neither was the church
ready to accept a new, young pastor at that time. But today, both the pastor
and the congregation are at the right place at the right time. This is not
because we were clever and orchestrated things well. It is because God knew
what we needed and when we needed it. The timing was totally in His hands.
As I
look ahead, I wonder what is next for me. I want to have a plan moving forward,
but God hasn’t chosen to reveal that to me. Instead, He is telling me to trust
Him and take it one day at a time. I can rush into things, making things more
difficult. I am learning to be patient and allow God to set the time table. “For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the
LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
Several
of my last messages have been related to the second coming of the Lord. It can
be a hot topic in some circles, garnering some lively debate. The one thing
that I can be sure about is that no one knows God’s timing when it comes to the
return of Christ. Just as the time was right for Jesus’ birth into our world,
the time will be just right when He returns. Our role is to patiently await
that time, actively doing what Jesus commissioned us to do. We can be sure that
when the time has fully come so will Jesus.
Psalms 27:14 (NIV)
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalms 37:7 (NIV)
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men
succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
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