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Three Things to Know About God’s Timing

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But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son (Galatians 4:4, ESV).

We’ve heard the phrase “in God’s timing,” referencing our lives, how change occurs, and following God’s will. No one wants to miss God’s timing.

Jesus spoke about timing with Jerusalem, “You did not recognize the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44, NASB). 

How can we tell when it’s the moment of God’s will? God has a timing for each event and action in our lives, as Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV) notes, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” 

I don’t want to miss God’s timing in my life. How about you? 

There is no better understanding of “timing” than the “fullness of time” with the birth of Jesus. If any event in history had the right timing — it was the birth of Christ!

Below are three things we can know about God’s timing through the birth of Jesus.

First:  Patience!

God’s working even when we are frustrated with life, thinking nothing’s happening. 

Saul was called, and sixteen years later, he became the missionary to the Gentiles. David was anointed King of Israel, but he didn’t become king until sixteen years later as well.

Hopefully, the fruition of your calling won’t take sixteen years, but let’s remember that the “fullness of God” of Jesus’s birth began 4,000 years ago (in the garden of Eden) before Bethlehem.

Second:  God Works Secretly to Suddenly.

There were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them (Luke 2:8-9, NASB).

The time between Malachi and Matthew was four hundred years! God stopped talking, the Old Testament revelation was complete, a coming Messiah was predicted, and the Israelites were thinking, “How much longer, God?”

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them!

In the four-hundred-year interim between the Old Testament and the New Testament, God used the Greeks to establish a worldwide language and culture. He also used the Romans to bring the peace needed along with roads and shipping for easy travel. If Jesus had been born just a few decades before this “fullness,” the gospel wouldn’t have had the means (common language, culture, peace, and means to travel) to be spread quickly around the world!

Third:  Keep in Step

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25, ESV).

When it’s time to move, then move.

The four-thousand-year history of the Jews from Genesis to Malachi, four hundred years from Malachi to the Gospel of Luke, and angels suddenly appeared after all that time. Then, the ministry of Jesus finished in just three years.

Dutch Sheets, in his book God’s Timing for Your Life, writes. . . 

Often, God waits until the last moment to move. But it is also true that when He does move, it can transpire quickly. Never give up. Your “time” may be closer than you think.

If we are patient, have faith that God works in secret, and wait with anticipation to follow when He leads. . . we won’t miss the “fullness of time” in our lives.

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