Timing Matters

Hey, I hope you enjoyed the three-day weekend! I know that I did! I didn't post yesterday because I was busy having fun. Today, I've opened up my Bible to hear from God out of John 7:1-12. Care to read it with me? I couldn't help but ponder over what Jesus says here:

The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. (v. 6)

I've lived long enough to learn that timing is pretty important. (No, that doesn't mean I'm old!) If you have the right person and the right plan but the wrong timing, the whole thing generally goes south. I mean, a guy can send his wife a great looking bouquet of roses with a sweet card attached affirming that on this, their wedding anniversary, he'd marry her all over again. But if it's March 22 and they actually got married on May 27, she's probably not going to take it well.

But knowing that the right timing is important and knowing when it's the right time are two very different matters! I know the first but I'm not always so sure about the second. How do you know when the right time has come?

So Jesus talks about "the right time." And he says that for some people, "any time is right." I notice that Jesus had a sense and respect for what we often call God's timing. When I get something in my head to do or say, my impulse is to just do it. Do it now. Why put it off? I don't like to wait on those kinds of things. And that's how a lot of people are, I think. We want to operate on our own schedule.

Jesus, however, didn't live that way. He acted and moved in perfect rhythm with the will of God. He always made sure to consider not only what God wanted him to do but also when. In this text, he was well aware that it wasn't yet time for him to play all his cards for the Jerusalem crowds. His brothers thought they knew better. They're egging him on: "Come on, Jesus, what are you waiting for? If you're really the Messiah, why don't you go ahead and call a press conference? Don't keep us all waiting!"

Discerning God's timing is no easy matter of following a spiritual formula. I wish it were! But I have found that half the battle is just caring enough to seek God's will about what his timing might be. Praying sincerely about that often brings the discernment and sensitivity to know when the right time has arrived. It's also a matter of seeing the signs and reading them through the lenses of a commitment to God's purposes. Are the doors opening or are they still closed? Is that person's heart seemingly ready to be receptive, or do they show no signs of it? What kind of counsel am I getting from people I trust? Is my heart really fully submitted to God's will and timing and, if so, what is it telling me?

Jesus, I realize that for some things, anytime is not the right time, while for other things it is. Help me to know the difference. And please show me when the right time is. Amen.

What did God say to you as you read the Scripture? We'd love to know, so comment below. And it would be very cool if you would share this post with your Facebook friends. Just click on the Facebook "f" icon below. Thanks!