There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. (Ecc. 3:1, NLT).
I have often related to my students in class the importance and power of timing in all that we do in ministry. Now that I am in a pastorate, I find myself having to learn that lesson in practice that I already knew though my intellect. I see things that I would like to do, places I would like to go, and activities that I would like to implement – but I know that for most of those things, the time is not right yet.
One reason for waiting is that people are often not ready for change, and even when they are, you have to take it slowly and methodically. No one wants to be jostled too much, too quickly (including myself). But a bigger reason for waiting is the need to hear the voice of God in the route He would have us go. Sometimes the plans that we have in mind are more about us than they are about Him. Sometimes the plans are His, but the timing isn’t right.
I am not one that believes that we need to walk on eggshells about the future and the routes we take. I believe that if we are doing what God desires of all of His people on a day to day basis (prayer, Bible study, evangelism, worship), our very desires will be shaped by that contact and so we can operate with confidence; both in ourselves and the fact that God will be with us. On the other hand, I also know that the Bible is clear that it is God who orders the universe and sets things in their proper time. On one level that is extremely liberating, but on another it calls for a certain degree of sensitivity to God’s leading and a willingness to wait on the Lord.
I have no doubt that I will make mistakes. I have no doubt there will be times of resistance. What I hope is that in the midst of those moments, one of the things I can fall back on is the realization that I am doing things as God would have them done and in a Spirit of trusting Him for the outcome, and not my own skillful planning. God is good and His timing is perfect. I just have to stop every once in a while and remind myself of that!
© 2021, Matt. All rights reserved.
