Timing and time. I've been reading Ecclesiastes this past week and got stuck on the 3rd chapter. . This chapter talks about time. And I heard a quote about time: “Time means nothing to God…Timing means everything to God.”
God is above time and He works in our lives according to His timing. The secret to peace with God is to discover, accept and appreciate God's perfect timing. The danger is to doubt or resent God’s timing, because it will lead to despair, rebellion or moving ahead without his advice.
These verses in Ecclesiastes 3 specifically stood out to me. Verses 9 and 10 read;
9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Of course, these verses hit home with me because I intepret it as talking about work, my 9-5. In verse 9, Solomon is asking the question- what do we really get for our hard work? At home, at school, at work? He also says in verse 10 that God placed this burden on us all, due to Adam and Eve’s sin, we now have to work, hard! But, God has made everything beautiful for its own time.
I now know that my ability to find satisfaction in my work depends on my attitude. I have become dissatisfied because I lost the sense of purpose God intended for my work. But it will become beautiful- everything, even work, will be beautiful, it just depends on the timing!
We all can enjoy work if we remember these things:
1. God has given us work to do. I remember praying for God to give me a job! I remember him giving me a job that I wasn’t sure about, but I know that it is a job and I have a purpose. This does not just apply in employment situations. We can be
2. Understand the fruit of our labor is a gift from him. Your car, your home, your savings, all of those are fruits of your labor. But first, it is a gift!
3.It is a way to serve God.
3 ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR WAITING ON GOD'S TIMING:
1. YOU AREN'T MISSING OUT.
Maybe you thought you would've been in a relationship by now, Maybe you thought you would've finished school, or gotten the job, or started your business by now...maybe you can't keep up with your peers, and it seems like everyone is running circles around you. Whatever it is, don't start to think it's too late for you and you'll never catch up. Isaiah 40:31 says 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Realize now that beautiful things will happen when God says it's time and you haven't missed out on it. Wait for
it.
2. YOU HAVEN'T BEEN LOOKED OVER
Maybe you've been looked over at work, Maybe godly men never seem to look your way, Maybe you're not your boss' favorite... Remember that God promised us eternal life through Jesus Christ and no matter how much people overlook you, underestimate you, or don't care about you, it doesn't overshadow the way God sees you and how wonderfully He is ordering your steps. Psalm 37:23 says The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;
3. YOU AREN'T ALONE
Doesn't matter who left you hanging tonight, Doesn't matter who didn't call or text, Doesn't matter who broke your heart, God is beside you. and if you are having a hard time being reminded of this, take some time to pray and ask God to remind you of His love, His protection and His comfort. It is not like any other. Psalm 23:4 says…. thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. In your season of waiting on His timing, Be encouraged. Remember His love, His perfect timing, and how beautiful it truly is.
As you think about Gods timing this week, answer these questions:
1. What are you waiting on right now?
2. Name at least one thing you waited on for a long time and it finally came to pass:
3. Think back to what you realized during Number 2, and apply these kind
of thinking to what you’re waiting on in Number 1. write your prayer to
ask the Lord to help you realize everything will happen in His beautiful
timing.
What Should We Pray For?
What God’s timing means to us is that when we pray we shouldn’t get impatient because the eternal God will answer according to His timing not ours. Psalm 27:14 gives us good advice about this: “Wait on the Lord: be good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord.” Only God knows when the time is right for our prayers to be answered. While we wait on the fulfillment of God’s timing in our lives, He is strengthening our hearts. It is while we wait on the timing of God that we grow spiritually. God knows when we are ready to receive the answer that He has for us.
