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Grace takes you from where you are to where God wants you to be. It takes place step by step, day by day as God brings about a change in your heart and mind beginning with a fundamental shift in the knowledge of your identity in Christ – You are no longer a slave. You are a child of God. [Galatians 4:7] When God is your Father, just as He exalted His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, [Hebrews 5:5] He Himself will bring about a promotion in your life too. And until He lifts you up what your attitude needs to be is set forth clearly in God’s word by the Apostle Peter – Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time. [1 Peter 5:6]
The proper time –
‘Timing is everything’ it is said in the world. In God’s kingdom too there is a time that is right, when He makes all things beautiful. There is a proper time, an appointed time, a due time ordained by God when He will exalt you.
Gauging the right time –
In life it is often easier to know what God wants you to do, when compared to knowing when He wants you to do it. But prospering and finding fulfillment in any activity that you undertake, very often boils down to a matter of timing. And if the timing is not right you may end up getting frustrated with life itself.
The time and the purpose –
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. [Ecclesiastes 3:1] Words that are familiar, making it abundantly clear that everything in the sight of God has a meaning and a purpose and also a set time for it to prosper. The time and the purpose must come together rightly, for God has made all things beautiful in its time. [Ecclesiastes 3:11]
‘All’ things –
It is all inclusive. God has made each and every aspect of your life beautiful in its time. The key word is ‘time’. And it is why – He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. [Ecclesiastes 3:11]
Eternity – a divine sense of purpose:
Your life does not end here. For, the moment you close your eyes here in physical death is the very moment you open your eyes to behold the glory of the Lord face to face in heaven. You have been created to be with God for eternity. It is why He has set eternity in your heart – a longing within you, a divine sense of purpose that only He can satisfy. And you can discern it, and walk in it, only when you focus on the eternal God who loves you with an eternal love.
All else is vanity –
Living unaware of a divine purpose will see you running after various things – worldly pleasures, wealth, power and position, but finding no contentment or fulfillment in it. After achieving one goal it will only be a question of ‘what’s next’. And ‘Is that all to life ?’ may be the cry of the questioning heart in you that continues to seek something deeper that only God can truly satisfy.
But when divine purpose is accomplished –
Simeon –
He was old, but in faith held on to the promise given to him by God, that he would not see death till he saw the Lord’s Christ. And as he held the infant Jesus in his arms, he rejoiced giving thanks to God, knowing that the divine purpose of his life had been accomplished. With a heart fully satisfied, he prayed, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation’…. [Luke 2:25-32]
Lord Jesus Christ –
By one sacrifice He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. [Hebrews 10:14] The Cross of Calvary was where eternity was satisfied by the eternal God. ‘It is finished’ was the Lord’s majestic cry on fulfilling His eternal purpose. And it is in the truth of that divine exchange that took place on the Cross that you and I need to find our rest, and see all our deepest need fulfilled.
Paul –
‘I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith’. And now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness… [2 Timothy 4:7] It is Paul’s declaration of fulfillment and deep satisfaction as he neared the end of his life. His words of confidence and peace can be yours too.
An appointed time and place –
And He has made from one man, every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. [Acts 17:26] The verse above describes how eternity has been embedded in your heart. God has appointed the time of your birth and the boundaries of your dwelling as a unique part of His eternal plan for all of creation. Accepting this glorious truth of eternity in your heart will put to rest all the ‘if only’ doubts that may arise in your mind to plague you and disturb your peace. You will realise with clarity that ‘in Him you live and move and have your being’ and ‘He has made all things beautiful in its time’. It will lead you from frustration to a place of fulfillment in your life.
Discerning the right time –
Among the men who came to David, and rallied around him in faithful support and leadership, there were – The sons of Issachar, who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. [1 Samuel 12:32] The leaders wisely discerned the right time and the action that had to be taken. And today, you are ultimately the leader of your life. For if you do not take responsibility over your life, someone else will start running your life and not necessarily for your good.. Your life, being a child of God, is divinely connected. Your heart has eternity, the divine purpose of God implanted in it. And it is by fixing your eyes on God that you will know His eternal plan for you.. It is what king Jehoshaphat did when faced with a mighty army. His prayer which laid the foundation for victory was ‘O our God, will you not judge them ? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you’. [2 Chronicles 12:12]
To determine the pulse of your life –
Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [Psalms 90:12] This psalm, a prayer of Moses, is even today wondrously applicable in your life and mine.
Numbering the days –
It is all about making everyday count for the glory of God, to present unto Him a heart of wisdom. Increasing age need not necessarily mean a decline in fruitfulness, for as you get older, you are getting more experienced.
Finishing like a sigh –
We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years, and if by reason of strength are eighty years, yet their boast is only labour and sorrow, For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. [Psalms 90:9,10] Moses describes here the lives of the Israelites in the wilderness. They were disobedient, self-absorbed, and driven by instincts, not inspired by the Spirit, and reaped the consequences. But this need not be your story, your song, when you have the blessed assurance of being a child of God. For when the Lord is your shepherd, goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.
Your prayer needs to be –
Don’t put yourself in the wilderness bracket. In the very same psalm Moses prescribes what your prayer ought to be, when God is your Father – Oh, satisfy me early with your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. [Psalms 90:14,15] God will give you a compensation of joy and laughter for all your days of sorrow and pain. Your days of sorrow will surely come to an end. He has set eternity in your heart, and you can look beyond your troubling circumstance in the knowledge that God has made all things beautiful in it’s time.
The time to hear Him –
Remember the Creator in the days of your youth. [Ecclesiastes 12:1] The time of youth is when life’s philosophies and values are built in a person. How important it is to fix your eyes on the Lord even when you are young. The world may say that it is very difficult to capture the attention of the young. But it is not so when the Lord intervenes, even as you keep offering up your child in prayer, that all your children would be taught of the Lord. He will get their attention in a way they cannot refuse. Samuel and the prophet Jeremiah were young when they heard God.
Missing the time –
And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. [Luke 19:45] The Lord wept over Jerusalem as He said these words, for the people of Israel knew the scriptures, but missed the time of the Messiah’s coming. They had preconceived ideas and did not recognise the gentle Saviour riding on a donkey, as being God’s path to bring restoration and life. But God is not constrained. He is unlimited in who He is and how He works. Therefore limiting Him and His ways within your narrow boundaries – ‘This is how He’ll heal me, this is how He’ll meet my financial need’ will only prove to be your undoing. God can and will do what He wants, when He wants, and in whatever way He chooses to, in order to meet your need. Therefore keep your eyes fixed on Him, and never under estimate whatever He is doing, and whomever He is using in your life right now.
Knowing, understanding your time – ‘See how the farmer waits’:
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the former and late rains. [James 5:7] The key is waiting with patience and with sensitivity to the Spirit, for the former and latter rain. The former rain signifies the time for sowing, when the word of God, His promise is sown in your heart. The latter rain is when His fulfillment comes, the time of harvest. And the gestation time, the time of waiting, is when you need to exercise patience, the fruit of the Spirit in you. In the reconciliation of a broken relationship, in sharing the gospel with another person, in leadership, whatever may be the issue, when God has sown a word in you concerning it, take care to wait with patience and sensitivity to the Spirit for the latter rain. For that is when the harvest comes, when God has softened and worked in the other person’s heart too. You were chosen before you were formed in your mother’s womb. And the loving Father waited with patience from the time His word was sown in your heart till you turned to Him and received the gift of salvation.
Abraham & Isaac (the time for ‘laughter’):
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations as he had been told, ‘so shall your offspring be’. [Romans 4:18] Abraham received the promise of God in faith. It was the sowing of God’s word in His heart. Thereafter, though challenges arose, he continued to water it by believing and praising God till at the appointed time the promise was fulfilled. And the God for whom all things are possible gave them Isaac, a beloved son whose name meant ‘laughter’.
Laughter in your life –
If God has given you a word of promise He has sown laughter in your heart already, the time of the former rain. Continue to water it in thanksgiving and faith. One day the time of the latter rain will surely come, and you will say ‘God has filled my heart with laughter’.
Your appointed time –
IWeeping may endure for the night, But joy cometh in the morning. [Psalms 30:5] There is a season appointed for you to have ‘Isaac’. There is a compensation of joy coming for your time of pain and sorrow. Until then, keep watering God’s promised word with prayer and with praise, knowing that He is the God of eternity, the eternal God with whom all things are possible. With your eyes fixed on God and with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in your walk with Him ‘Make everyday count, all for His glory’ Amen.
