God Plan, God’s Time
Last night and this morning we enjoyed the conversation and message from Dick Foth and Mark Batterson. Much of their discussion was on the importance of connection and making a difference in the lives of others. This morning Mark shared a powerful message about Peter’s denial of Jesus and eventual restoration by Jesus. He used the analogy that God constructs the “highlight video” of our life. He erases the past and redeems that present and gives hope for the future.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news. Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” Luke 1:19,20 HCSB
There is saying that goes, “God is never late, but He misses some great opportunities to be early.” I’m sure for Elizabeth and Zachariah that meant having children before they were old and “past the years of childbearing.” But the desire to have a child seemed never to leave their hopes and dreams.
As Zachariah is chosen by chance (lot) to offer the incense before the altar, his prayers in the very presence of God are for his wife to have a child. We know that because the first words spoken by the angel Gabriel are, “…Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.” (Luke 1:13 HCSB)
Not only was Zachariah’s prayer heard and answered, it went beyond what he could have desired in that his son would play a critical role in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world. While Zachariah heard the good news, human doubt still prevailed. In this situation he didn’t ask for a sign like Gideon or Hezekiah in the Old Testament, but he was given a sign due to his unbelief.
What caught my attention as I read this passage were the words, “you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” Zachariah received the good news, but he didn’t have a promised time frame. Did the angel mean ten months from now? Eighteen months from now? Three more years? When?
What we in Zechariah and what challenges us today is being a peace with God’s timing. God has a “proper time” for the events of this world and our lives. It is easy for us to become restless and begin to worry, but we are to remain steadfast, trusting God to fulfill His promise in His way and in His time.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” (Galatians 4:4,5 NLT)
God has a plan and timing for Christ’s birth and He has one for Christ’s return. “Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.“ (Revelation 9:15 NLT)
God had a timing for Joseph to be elevated to a position of power in Egypt. God fulfilled the words of Jeremiah, when Jehoichin was released from prison in Babylon and elevated to a position of honor. At the right time God choose Saul of Tarsus to become Paul the great Apostle.
Just as God’s ways are above your ways, His timing is different than yours. But His time is the right time, it is the proper time. I recall when I was in the hospital, I waited with eager anticipation for a surgery that would facilitate my recovery and help my health improve. There were frustrating and unexpected delays. At the time is was a cause for discouragement. But when the time for the surgery came, I realized that it was “the proper time.” My strength and little weight that I had gained during the waiting time, made me better prepared for a major surgery.
In your life, in all that concerns your life; trust the God who fulfills His Word at the “proper time.”