Perfect Timing

Think of a time in your life when you were in the right place at the right time, or maybe the wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine that you are an understudy in your school’s musical while playing a small non-speaking role, sort of lost in the ensemble. Suddenly, the day before the opening night, the lead actor comes down with laryngitis, and you step in and “steal the show.” It could be that years later, you reflect upon that “perfect timing” moment as the launching pad for a career in theater that has taken you places you never imagined going.

Last month Robyn and I were sitting out on our back patio enjoying a glass of wine when a brief evening rain shower occurred. Just as we looked toward the front of our house, we saw a full double rainbow. I took what I believe to be a perfect timing picture.    

When we vacation at the beach, we get up most every morning to watch the sunrise. Every sunrise is beautiful in its own way, but sometimes the beauty is beyond words. One morning last week while in Virginia Beach, just as the sun was high enough to reflect off the ocean’s surface, a fishing vessel passed through the reflection. I took what I believe was a perfect timing picture.   

You have heard it said, maybe even seen it in your own life, that timing is everything. And sometimes that timing works to our advantage, while other times, to our detriment. God’s timing, on the other hand, always works out best for us. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, as Abraham and Sarah waited and waited for God to fulfill His promise of a child, they most likely had doubts about God’s promise to them. We read in Genesis 18:13-14 these words – “Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

A few chapters later we read – “Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he has promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God has promised.” (21:1-2)

Notice the key words in that passage – “at the very time God has promised.” God’s timing is perfect, but we must learn to wait for His timing and trust that He will do things “at the very time” He promises.

Despite Abraham making a few missteps along the way, and at times doubting God’s timing and promise, God kept His promise and blessed Abraham with a son from whom the lineage of Jesus would come. The certainty of God’s promises are made clear to us in Hebrews 6:13-15, When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater than him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. 

So, today, do you, or maybe better asked, will you seek God’s way and wait for His timing? His timing is always perfect!

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