Timing is Everything in God’s Universe
Timing is everything — in both heaven and on earth. We have no control over God’s timing, but we do try to manage our time in this life as best we can, even though that can be a major challenge.
For example, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics must respond as quickly as possible to emergency 911 calls because the outcome is often a matter of life and death. Conversely, we often take our time when contemplating difficult decisions because they usually have major implications.
Scripture provides a number of references to time, most notably the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is well known for its helpful perspective in Verse 1 of Chapter 3: “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Passages like these are clear and full of wisdom, but others are a little more cryptic and need to be processed, including this passage from II Peter 3:8-9, which states, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
There’s a lot to unpack in these two verses. The thousand-year reference in regard to the Lord indicates that time is not a factor as far as God is concerned. When you think about it, he has all the time in the world — eternity to be exact. So time has no dominion over him. The second part of the passage relates to the first in that our conception of time is not at all like his conception of time. When we go to him in prayer, we generally want an immediate response and a quick resolution. What we fail to understand is that God will respond to our plea as he sees fit. He has been enormously patient with us; we should reciprocate by demonstrating patience with him. He has a perfect plan and wants no one to perish, so he seemingly wants to provide as much time as possible for “everyone to come to repentance.”
In the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark (13:32-33) provides the most sobering instruction regarding time, particularly how fleeting and uncertain it is in this life, with this passage: “about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” so “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” In other words, we may have all the timing devices in the world and think that we can control time, but God is the only one who can control the world’s clock, so it is wise for us to stay awake and stay alert, living each day to the fullest as if it were our last because one never knows — it could be.
Until We Meet Again, Be Blessed! – Pastor John