The Timing of God

The Lord wants to reveal personal timing to each of us so that when He does something new and unexpected in our world, our personal timing will be aligned with His timing.

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For the last month, I thought I was developing something akin to OCD – an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Several times during the night, while embraced by the warmth of our comfortable bed, I would be compelled to wake up and roll over to check the time displayed on the glowing digital clock that rests on our bedstand. I felt a need to know the exact time, not a guess.

Last night it happened again. Finally, the Lord spoke to me about the reason for what I had wrongly interpreted as disruptive behavior. He was trying to get my attention to speak a word to me. While lying in bed facing away from the clock, I could guess an approximate time, not the exact time. To know the exact time required that I disturb my sleep and roll over from a comfortable, warm position to actually look at the clock.

We are at a critical juncture in time. The Lord wants to reveal personal timing to each of us so that when He does something new and unexpected in our world, our personal timing will be aligned with His timing. This is not a time to guess or postulate. We must know the exact timing for our personal lives to align with the greater work the Lord will accomplish on a global scale. This personal timing will align us with timing only the Father knows. 

The disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom” (Acts 1:6). The words “our kingdom” is telling because God’s timing is not about our kingdom. It is about His Kingdom and our submitted posture toward Him. Jesus replied to the disciple’s question, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know” (Acts 1:7). Even when our timing is aligned with God’s timing, we will not always know the reason or purpose of our personal timing until it is fully aligned with what the Lord has planned to accomplish.

To discover our personal timing requires revelation, not speculation. The timing of the Lord for our life might carry a disturbing or disruptive revelation to our status quo. It is not intended to incite fear but to create a focus and clarity that will remove the fog of assumption a state of undisturbed spiritual slumber might create. 

To discover the timing of God for our life requires a willingness on our part to roll over from our settled and comfortable assumptions to discern the timing of the Lord. To discover that timing will position us to see and understand the plans of God when events take place in our world that we did not see coming.  Knowing our personal timing will help us interpret His timing and not live in fear. That understanding will put all things in proper perspective and alignment.

 

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins

Featured Image by Kacper Lawiński from Pixabay 

 
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About the Author

Garris Elkins is a Kingdom Winds Contributor. He and his wife, Jan, serve the global Church through writing, speaking, and mentoring. They live in southern Oregon, tucked away in the foothills of the Rogue Valley. Their shared desire is to have each person learn how to hear the heart of God and become a transforming voice in their culture.

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