“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (See Ecclesiastes 3:1-14.) The truth of this short passage of Scripture popularized in my generation by the Byrds (1965) hit home to me in two very different ways this week. One was an unexpected and very meaningful conversation which touched on several issues I had been praying about and about which I was unsure whether there would be a right timing and if so when it would be. I was so thankful I had waited for God’s perfect timing. Only God could have gently brought something up at the right time that brought so much peace and healing to my heart. There is indeed “a time to keep silence and a time to speak”.
The other example pertained to some work that I had gone to quite a bit of trouble to organize before leaving a previous position many years ago. It involved quite a lot of work by another person but which I had authorized and encouraged. I felt it would be of great benefit to the parish and it was a way of leaving a lasting gift with them that did not point to me but to the ongoing work of the Lord through the local church. The work was not used and nothing else was even developed to replace it. I thought the effort had been wasted and I felt particularly regretful about this since it was not just my effort but someone else’s who had done a wonderful and professional job at no charge. I had given up hope that the resource would ever be used.
Just this week I happened to discover, seemingly by accident (I believe God orchestrates such “accidents”), that the resource had very recently been revived! I realized that seeds planted in faith and trust in the Lord and in obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit do bear fruit even if they lie dormant for many years, decades or even centuries. (Think of the work of Saint Augustine and the vibrant Church in North Africa many centuries ago). We may not see the fruit in our lifetime but sometimes we do. For the encouragement this brings I am truly thankful.
I felt encouraged not just that the work had not been wasted but that God is at work in a situation where so much of Jen’s and my hearts had been interwoven and where there seemed to be unnecessary pain and loss. This seed lay dormant for almost a decade. It is not just the resurrection of what had apparently died but the meaning and spiritual significance of this that heartened me. Something had shifted in the invisible realm and this was a sign of this shift. Only God could do this and His timing is right on so many levels. God is up to something in this season for His people!
God knows the times He has ordained. Everything in Scripture points to this. In this Epiphany season we recall the wise men who came and found the infant Jesus at just the right time. The Holy Family then escaped to Egypt at just the right time. They were prompted to return quietly to Nazareth at just the right time. Jesus began his public ministry with his Baptism at just the right time. God works out the details of our individual lives, of His church and His world at just the right time. Nothing is too small or too large to have a right timing. It is all under God’s sovereign hand.
When we wait for His timing, we will not be disappointed. When we get ahead of Him and try to force things that only He can orchestrate, we frustrate ourselves and others. When we become spiritually lethargic, we may become insensitive to His promptings though God continues His work as He is faithful! As we prayerfully wait for His timing, God is preparing us to act in faith and trust at the right time. He is doing an inner work of preparation and making our hearts more sensitive to His leading. As Isaiah says (see Isaiah 40:27-31), “those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”. Be encouraged! God is at work in ways you do not yet see. When you do see the result of the seeds you have planted unobtrusively in faith, you will know it is from God alone.
In this Epiphany season of God’s love, may we sense the leading of the Holy Spirit in His perfect timing in all things large and small and have expectant, sensitive and obedient hearts.
Greg
