Timing

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

This verse opens the passage in Ecclesiastes some know as the ‘time for everything’ passage; an extensive list of back-and-forth examples of seemingly opposite events to illustrate that seasons and times come and go. I’m not going to detail them all here, though I encourage you to read them with careful thought in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. It is a powerful passage that can provide much comfort, hope, and peace in the midst of affliction or suffering. It illustrates that through all things, God is in control as He orchestrates the seasons. The passage I do want to highlight and dig into a bit more from Ecclesiastes 3 concerns how God’s timing relates to our lives in a personal, individual way.

      “What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.
      I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” – Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

This passage shows how specific God’s timing truly is. “He has made everything beautiful in its time;” not only is there a time for everything, but God makes everything work together in His perfect timing and for His perfect purposes alone. Yet as much as we may try, we cannot know His perfect timing. We must trust that God is in control. It is not for us to know God’s timing (“he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end”), but rather to trust that what He has willed for us is good and perfect. We must remember that His ways are not our own. Only He understands how everything fits together, and as much as we may desire or seek that knowledge, it is His alone. In the meantime, we must live seeking to do the will of God and trust His control over all seasons and times to the extent of His call on our lives. Romans 8:28 assures us all that God does works together for good: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Whether we like it or not, God has a plan for each of us that will come to pass despite all the sinful wickedness that seems to stand in the way in our eyes. God even demonstrates His perfect timing in when Jesus walked this earth: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ dies for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Through suffering and joy, pain and pleasure, hurt and healing, God’s timing is perfect.

When I think of an example of God’s perfect timing in my own life, so many experiences come to mind. But one of the first times I tangibly experienced the perfection of God’s timing was in the summer of 2007. Actually, the story starts long before that. In the summer after my freshman year, God called me not to serve at camp like I had always dreamed of doing that summer, but rather to go with my church on a week-long mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico. On that trip, God really began to open my eyes to the world around me and break my heart for the suffering of others. Looking back, I can see my passion for working with kids and my heart to serve were sparked by that trip. Then the following summer, instead of going on the trip with my church, I went to serve at the annual retreat of all the Evangelical Covenant denomination’s missionaries stationed in Mexico. While the missionaries were in their sessions, I provided childcare to the missionary kids. During meals and in between sessions, I had the opportunity to talk with some fascinating people who God had called to work in Mexico. I heard so many stories of God’s providence and how He was using these ordinary people who had responded to His extraordinary call.

So later that fall, I was already thinking and praying about what God had in store for my next summer – would I go back to Mexico, and if so would I go with my church to Monterrey or return to the missionary retreat? Or was God calling me to camp, the one place I had always thought I would be during my summers as a high school student? God quickly responded, and provided me with the opportunity to return to Mexico and serve one of the missionary families I had met at the retreat the previous summer. They had just welcomed their second child and were open to the possibility of having someone stay with them during the summer as an extra pair of hands. It quickly became evident that this is what God wanted, and a few short months later, I found myself on a plane back to Monterrey. I spent the first week with the mission team from my church, and then stayed in Monterrey for just over a month after that. My days were spent doing whatever I was able to do – babysit, wash dishes, whatever. But my summer was so much more than that! I got the chance to see and experience life as a missionary firsthand – what their life is like as they not only run programs and classes through their ministry, but also as they raise a family and live everyday lives. God taught me so much more on that trip, and I still look back and see new lessons and truths revealed to me because of it all the time. But of all things, the most obvious lesson I learned is that God’s timing truly is perfect. The spring before I was to arrive, this family had planned to move to a new home, as they were quickly outgrowing their old one. In the end, they did not end up being able to move before I came but rather had to schedule the move while I was there. So, I often babysat the boys in the midst of packing, and I was able to help in whatever other ways I could. At the end of my time in Mexico, I returned with this family to the annual missionary retreat and again assisted with childcare. But throughout my entire time there, God was showing that His timing is perfect. If I had not been there during the move, as was the original ‘plan,’ it would have been much more difficult to accomplish everything when it needed to be. God revealed that His timing required me to be there when they moved, something that could in no way have been planned as far in advance as my trip had been planned. I was able to be the blessing that family needed because God placed me there at that time.

Again and again, over and over, I can clearly see how God has shown up in my life through His perfect timing. He knew that I needed to have a few experiences in Mexico instead of my plans that I would be working at camp those summers. It was His timing that led me to where I was supposed to be. It was His timing that still led me to work at camp later in my life. It was His timing that led me to study at a junior college before coming to North Park. It was His timing that led me to where I am in my life. It was His timing that I start this blog when I did.

And even as I sit here writing this, though I can look back and see how blessed I have been through God’s perfect timing in my past, it becomes painfully evident that I still cling to my sinful, wicked, broken fears and doubts about my future. Though I do have faith that God will do what He desires in my life, it is still difficult to surrender my future and completely trust Him. Yet I find comfort that God has shown Himself in my life in the past, and knowing that makes trusting His timing a little less frightening. He truly is the “God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3-11) who desires us to rely on Him for our every need. He alone is faithful, He alone is good, and I am able to draw near to Him. The ways that He has demonstrated His perfect timing in my life in the past comfort me and let me trust Him more. How great it is that the God who loves us and created us and has a plan for each of our lives according to His perfect timing desires a personal, intimate relationship! Even as I reflect on my past and fear my future, I have the comfort of God’s perfect timing through hope, faith, and trust in Him alone in the present.