Timing is a very important concept throughout the Scriptures. As a child we always think we are ready to do something, but it may not be the right time. “I think I am ready to drive the car,” the little boy said to his father. The father said to the boy, “You are only five. Someday you will be old enough, but not today.”
Many times, we are like the little boy even as adults. We say to the Lord, “I am ready, Lord.” If the Lord gave us what we requested each time we said that, we would probably be overwhelmed. Only the Lord knows the right timing, and we have to seek Him about His perfect timing. Here are just few Bible verses about God’s timing.
- Ecclesiastes 3-1 – For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. [1]
- Galatians 4:4 – But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. [2]
- Galatians 6:9 – So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. [3]
- John 16:13 – When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.[4]
Have you ever done the right thing but at the wrong time? In our story of Moses, he had heard from God that he was to rescue the Hebrew people, but he went forward with just part of God’s plan at the wrong time.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. [5] Exodus 7:23-25
Because Moses had not sought the Lord’s timing, an Egyptian was killed, and he had to flee for his life. Often when we get ahead of God’s timing, we make the situation worse instead of better.
If we are not sure about God’s timing what should we do? We need to humble ourselves before God and seek Him in prayer. As we spend time with the Lord, He will reveal His timing. Often when the Lord gives us something it is not in the immediate future. As we press into God in prayer, He will reveal to us more of His plan and His timing.
God gives us hopes and dreams for certain things to happen in our lives, but He doesn’t always allow us to see the exact timing of His plan. Although frustrating, not knowing the exact timing is often what keeps us coming back to God. There are times when we might give up if we knew how long it was going to take, but when we accept God’s timing, we can learn to live in hope and enjoy our lives while God is working on our problems.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.[6] Proverbs 20:24 says, “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? [7]
When God directs our paths, He sometimes leads us in ways that don’t make sense to us so we’re not always going to understand everything. If we try to reason out everything, we will experience struggle, confusion and misery.
God causes things to happen at exactly the right time! God would use Moses to rescue the Hebrews, but it would be 40 years later. In the end we must trust Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in our life to give us guidance and direction. Trusting God brings life. Believing brings rest. So, stop trying to figure everything out, and let God be God in your life. As a good friend has told me many times, “Let go and let God.”
To hear more about the story of Moses, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/the-footsteps-of-moses/gods-wise-timing
[1,2,3,4,5,6,7] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.