“He has made everything beautiful in its time…” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Christmas Day 2022, my dog Oscar of 15 years took his last breath. Getting up that Christmas morning and waking my kids early to drive an hour away past many homes and towns where others were celebrating while we were grieving was not the way I imagined saying goodbye to him. It definitely wasn’t the day I would have picked to walk through this day I had dreaded for some time, yet there I was sitting in a room weeping. When we returned home after what felt like an eternity, my face and head were pounding and I asked my sons if they could give me some time to lay face down on the couch to collect myself and I promised I would spend some quality time with them. That day, God began teaching me something new about “timing.”
I haven’t been turning my ear to God my entire life. I am an organizer and planner, so for me laying out a timeline is right up my alley (and I suppose God designed me that way); however, when I stepped onto the path to surrender many years ago now, something very significant changed in me. Timing! As I began tuning my ears to God, asking His guidance, and waiting…His timeline was significantly different than mine. Sometimes it was WAY TOO LONG! Other times, it was like “now?!” But, but, but…. However, time and again, God proved his omniscient awesomeness in impeccable timing.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
When I stepped back and waited for instruction, God began blowing me away with the unique and perfect timing of decisions in my life. One wowzer was believing I was to put my house on the market and within days, talking to a friend who had bought a property she had planned to start renting! That house sold in the middle of winter when most would tell you “wait until spring.” But God…..
Another wowzer was when I believed I was to leave my career to teach at my children’s school when I was at a very comfortable place and settled. Most would say, “what are you thinking?!” But God…. Within the year, COVID hit, and I was in a position to come home to help my son’s through that life transition as I finished the year teaching online.
I could go on and on about big things and little things, but the theme over and over since I actually started listening and waiting for God to lead is that His timing is rarely ever my timing, but it is always right!
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…” Psalm 37:7
One other grand, repeating lesson I have learned on timing is that before almost any change in my life, God has led me through a long period of “waiting” which I now call the preparation phase of whatever is coming. When the change begins, it is swift.
He also mirrors this pattern in many Bible stories. Joseph….the one with the coat of many colors, sold into slavery, then spent years in prison, only to one day be promoted to the right hand man of Pharaoh in a day! (Genesis 37-41) What about Noah, asked to build an ark that took much of his life to build. I am sure many a dry day passed when Noah wondered when God would come through on that weather prediction, then BAM, the rain came and the significance of those years building the ark made a whole lot of sense! (Genesis 5-9) Then there is Joshua who led his soldiers around the city of Jericho a specified number of times over a specified period of days before the walls fell (Joshua 6). Let’s also not forget Moses, who had specific warnings to offer Pharaoh on specified days that built to the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery (Exodus 1-14).
The theme over and over is TIMING!
You might be going through a period of waiting for something, someone, an answer and it feels like you can’t wait another day. Or you may find yourself in a place where you aren’t waiting, you are just busy doing. May we all take a moment to breathe and ask God to lead our decisions. He has guided us to…
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come….the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24: 42, 44
Father, it can be very hard to wait on your timing. With all of life’s distractions it can make it difficult to hear your voice over the world. Help us to disconnect enough from the distraction to better hear you and attune to your voice and your timing in all that we do. Guide us, and help us help each other as we prepare for whatever it is you call each of us to do. Let us all be ready for what lies ahead as you prepared those that went before us. We love you and appreciate you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
P.S. Today’s image is of my son’s and I at their birth. There isn’t an image that matches God’s timing more than the unknown of when a child will arrive. I did not know the day or the hour, but I knew to get ready. Rylie James was born at 11:53 AM and Samuel Ehren was born at 2:57 AM. Neither a time or day I would have predicted. But God…
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Timing
Show me the next step I should take.