DAY 1 - God’s Timing has Purpose

TODAY'S FOCUS: We can improve our timing and how we make daily decisions by studying God’s timing.

You’ve probably heard the famous quote by Ben Franklin, “Time is the stuff life is made of.”

We get no savings account of extra hours to store away; no one can inherit an additional year of life. Time is the only true non-renewable resource.

Scripture makes it clear that we should value our time when we read phrases like “Teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12, NKJV) and “Your life is just a vapor” (James 4:14, NASB20).

The very real limits on our time make it even more important to understand when it’s the right time to do certain things.

How can we align our understanding of time with how God sees time so we know when to act and when to wait?

Sometimes, God gives us signals that are obvious. But when there’s no voice from heaven telling us to move, act, take the new job, start the new creative project, or build the business, things get a lot more complicated.

What’s the solution?

To understand our Creator’s timing, we first have to understand the purposes of His timing.

Since God knows everything from beginning to end and beyond, this requires us to stretch our imagination and humble ourselves. Of course, we can never approach God’s infinite wisdom and understanding with our finite minds.

But we can get a better picture of it from Scripture.

One clear indication of God’s timing comes from Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes, which state that there is a time for everything.

Here’s the thing.

This well-known Scripture is framed by the classic dualism of wisdom literature, where something positive is followed by something negative.

A time to love is accompanied by a time to hate. Right beside a time to heal is a time to kill. A time to embrace has to co-exist with a time to refrain from embracing.

Why would God include space for such negative, seemingly destructive things?

In His wisdom, He chooses to reserve moments for all the things that will accomplish His goals and further His Kingdom.

That includes things we would rarely include in our schedules.

The key lesson in this is to understand that God’s timing often involves things we would never consider. If we want to move in God’s timing, we must first modify our preconceived notions of what belongs on our agendas.

God knows that even the tough moments and harsh realities of life must take place in the fullness of time for us to know him fully. To experience His wisdom completely, we have to let Him reveal His ultimate plan, one minute at a time.

If time is what life is made of, God’s mercy and grace are what makes time a blessing.

Make sure you lean on that truth.

You’ll have a greater sense of peace throughout every moment of your day.

Now that we know that God's timing has purpose, we'll move on to the perpetual nature of God's timing.

APPLICATION FOR TODAY

Think about the moments that you’d like to forget because they were filled with pain and negativity. Now consider that those times were also ordained and noticed by God. Practice thanking God for even the harder times of life because every moment of our lives is a gift from Him.