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Printer Friendly VersionTime is a fascinating concept! Time has not always existed.
It is measured by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries,
and millenniums. All of those measurements of time depend on the sun and rotating
planets. Before the sun and moon, stars, and planets, there was no “time.”
Yet, God existed; God was. And one day, the Bible tells us, there will be
no more time, only eternity. Yet, we will still exist.
Time is a fascinating concept! We often talk about not having
enough time. Why haven’t you finished your Christmas shopping? Most
of the time we would say it is because we haven’t had time. There are
days I want to insert about eight more hours–-sometimes because I have
so much to do and other times because I am having so much fun.
The truth is we all have the same amount of time: 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. What we do with our time is a matter
of stewardship before God. How does God want us to use the resource of time
He has given us?
Time is a fascinating concept! There are two main words for
time in the Bible. Kairos: characteristics of a time period; qualities of
a time period. Chronos: a duration of time (minutes, seconds); quantities
of time. Both chronos and kairos are wrapped up in the Christmas story. In
other words, it was not only a perfect time with regards to the characteristics
of the world (kairos), but also a perfect time in regards to a specific moment
(chronos). But, when we think about time we naturally begin to think of timing,
and therein lies a conflict.
Have you ever found yourself saying, “The timing could
not have been worse,” or “the timing could not have been better”?
When the timing is great we tend to thank God, count our blessings, and move
on. When the timing is great we have no conflict, no problem. We’re
all excited! But, when the timing is bad we tend to struggle.
Think about some of our reactions to bad timing: Why me, Lord?
Why now? God, do You even care? God, where are You? Do you think Mary and
Joseph struggled with timing? Mary might have felt the timing of Christ’s
birth was bad because her marriage was not yet consummated. How would it look
to her family and friends? The birth of her child would be in occupied territory.
Security issues are involved and the census has totally disrupted all their
plans for the coming baby. She was planning on having this baby in Nazareth
with her family and friends, and then the census interrupts plans and sends
them to another place. They have no choice. The housing situation was inadequate.
Enduring labor pains, Mary listens to Joseph explain they are going to stay
in a cave because there is no room in the hotel. Now ask her if God’s
timing is perfect. We would have said, “Ha! No way!”
I can relate to this, can’t you? How often have things
happened and you’ve said, “This can’t be God’s timing.
Why is this happening now. I had other plans. This doesn’t make any
sense.”
Now, I could walk you through the Bible and tell you why the
timing was perfect. For example: The Old Testament said that the Messiah would
. . .
• Emerge victorious: “And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15
• Come from the nation of Israel: Genesis 12 (Abraham and his descendants).
• Come from the tribe of Judah: Genesis 49. Jacob gathered his 12 sons
together and prophesied concerning their future. He brought his fourth son
Judah and told him the scepter would never be taken out of the hand of Judah.
Literally, the Messiah would be born of the tribe of Judah.
• Come from the house of David: 2 Samuel 7:12-13
• Be born of a virgin: Isaiah 7:14
• Be born in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2
• Be visited and honored by wise men: Isaiah 60:3-9; Psalm 72:10
Or, I could walk you through history and tell you why the timing
was perfect.
• The dispersion of the Jews.
The “Diaspora:” Just before the birth of Christ,
the Jewish people were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. Now, that is
very significant, because these God-fearers, these worshipers of Yahweh, spread
throughout the Roman Empire.
When Christians began to disperse following Jesus’ ascension,
it was in these God-fearing Jewish communities throughout the Roman Empire
that the seed was first sown. These became the beds of evangelism throughout
the Roman Empire. If the Jews had stayed in the same place, evangelism might
have stayed right there in Israel. But through the wisdom of God, before He
allowed His Son to be born into this world, the Jewish people were dispersed
through all these communities in the Roman Empire.
• A favorable legal environment.
The Roman Empire was massive: they had conquered many different
nationalities, peoples, and religions. They were tolerant towards these religions,
with one rule: all religious sects and groups were to proclaim Caesar as god.
It worked with every religious sect except the Jewish people, and the Jews
never would do it. After decades of killing and intimidation, it got to where
the Romans said, “Okay, we’ll grant an exemption to the Jewish
people.” Now, watch the perfect timing of God. Just after the Jewish
people no longer have to proclaim Caesar as god, here comes the birth of the
baby Jesus.
In addition, the first 70 years after the crucifixion of Jesus,
the Roman Empire could not distinguish between the Jewish religion and Christianity.
They thought all Jews were Christians, and vice versa. The Romans still allowed
an exemption to their rule even after the destruction of Jerusalem and so
the Christians didn’t have to say “Caesar is Lord.” By the
time the Romans realized Christianity and Judaism weren’t the same,
Christianity had taken such root in the Roman Empire they could never pull
it out again.
• A favorable political environment.
You also have to understand there was civil war under Julius
Caesar, probably the best known Roman emperor. When Julius was assassinated
(about 25 years before the birth of Jesus) and Augustus Caesar came to the
throne, peace quickly came to the Roman Empire. For the next 2 centuries there
was peace (Pax Romano). Because of that peace all kinds of things began to
happen: roads were built, travel became common, a “highway patrol”
was established. All aided the spread of Christianity.
• A favorable cultural environment.
For the very first time since the Tower of Babel, the world
was united by a single language. Greek was the common language due to the
conquests of Alexander the Great. The same could not be said before the time
of Christ nor at any time after Christ.
• A favorable philosophical environment
Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers had done a better
job at raising questions than giving answers. It’s been said the Greek
philosophers plowed the fields, but they didn’t sow the seed. Christians
came into those cultivated, fertile, plowed minds and began to sow the seed
of Christianity.
In the light of the Bible and history, the timing was perfect.
However, we have to remember we are looking back, and we can see the just
how perfect the timing was. But, how difficult is it for us to see the perfect
timing when we’re in the middle of a situation?
God’s timing is always perfect: just right and right on
time. Remember the old phrase? God may not come when you want Him, but He’s
always right on time. That doesn’t mean He is one second ahead of late.
But it does mean He knows the best time.
God’s timing is always purposeful; God has a purpose for His timing.
He has something He wants to accomplish, and He, in His wisdom and power,
makes it happen in the context of time.
You ask, “Where do you see that?” Paul talked about
the birth of Jesus in Galatians 4:4-5. Listen to what Paul said, “But
when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under
law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
Can you hear the purpose, redemption, life, relationship with
God? If you forget everything you’ve ever heard about God, remember
this: God’s heart beats with redemption.
Trust God. We may think the timing is bad, but choose to trust
God.
Make the most of the opportunity. Paul said in Ephesians 5:15-17:
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the
most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be
foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Christopher Columbus, discouraged one day, walked by a monastery.
He was thirsty, so he went in for a drink of water. An old monk sat with him
and listened to how he wanted to go on an expedition to find another land.
Bad timing? When the story was over, Christopher Columbus went on, but the
old monk was a personal friend of Queen Isabella, and he was the one who convinced
her to finance Columbus’ expedition. Europe’s discovery of America
started with a drink of water in a monastery.
Abraham Lincoln was out in the back of his store one day, rummaging through
an old barrel. As he finished, he reached down and felt a couple books in
his hand. And he pulled them up and saw they were Blackstone’s Commentaries.
Something happened to Abraham Lincoln as he read those. He became a lawyer,
and it totally changed his direction. He got into politics and became the
President of the United States and healer of the wound of the Civil War. It
all started with him rummaging in a barrel.
John Calvin was going down to Italy. War broke out and the road
he was going to take was blockaded, so he went to Geneva. Bad timing? His
time in Geneva made a change in his life that has changed many lives since.
George Whitfield was a bartender in England and couldn’t
get along with his sister-in-law, who owned the bar, so he left. Bad timing?
Out of that experience he turned to God, went to Oxford, became part of the
Holy Club with John Wesley and helped change England.
What I’m saying is this: God’s timing is perfect
and purposeful. We can trust Him and make the most of the opportunities He
has given to us in His time.
Think about the events in your life. Think about what’s
happening right now. Do you question God’s timing? He has His hand on
you. He is involved in your life.
Do you have any situations you need to relinquish to the authority of God? I invite you to come and release those to God. Trust His heart, His timing, and allow Him to do in and through you whatever He desires.