Time management is an important skill that we develop as we grow. For some people, this seems to flow more naturally for them. These are the people that can arrive ahead of schedule, prepared and ready to go. Others consistently struggle to get out the door with all that they need to get to the next place in one piece. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, you can be certain that God’s timing in and through your life brings what you need to experience all that he has planned for you. In the book of Daniel, we find Daniel praising God for answering his prayer:
Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge and discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him. (2:20-22, NIV)
Changes are an expected part of life. When we find ourselves in the midst of change and we are seeking God’s wisdom and timing, he brings us the answers as we trust him. I had a dream recently in which the Spirit of Wisdom was teaching me about being in God’s timing. In the dream Wisdom was holding an hour glass which held the sands of time. I knew in my spirit that I was being invited to fully trust Wisdom with holding God’s timing for me. It was not for me to take hold of the hour glass and manipulate the flow. How many times do we try to manipulate timing according to our feelings or agenda?
One way this happens is through resistance. If I feel insecure or not prepared for the change that is happening, I can “drag my feet” with God. This can produce a delay in timing when I hold back or hold onto timing that no longer benefits my spiritual growth. This is like a child that has outgrown shoes, but wants to continue to wear them. Not only is this painful, but it can slow down others around us as well. God in his lovingkindness, will not force us to move forward with him, but he most certainly will use the discomfort of those limitations or restrictions to encourage us to let go and trust him in the change. One of the greatest “weapons” that the enemy can use against us is comfort. He will deceive us into believing that the challenges of change are not worth the discomfort we feel. The quote “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change,” carries truth. The story of the prophet Jonah in the Old Testament is a great example of delaying the timing of God. Jonah ran from the assignment God had given him, and found himself in a very uncomfortable position, thrown into the sea, swallowed by a fish, held there three days, and eventually thrown-up on the shore. Talk about learning a hard lesson!
The other way that we find ourselves manipulating time is in rushing ahead. We run ahead of the Spirit when we are so fixed on wanting our perception of the future now. When we feel dissatisfied in the current circumstances and long for new and different, we can move too quickly into the future of our making and bypass the process that God is using to prepare us. The art of baking seems to carry this principle. When baking a cake, it just makes sense to follow the instructions for the best outcome. If we impulsively shortchange the amount of time needed and pull the cake out of the oven before it is thoroughly finished, we can have a very disappointing result! Keeping in step with the Spirit and allowing wisdom to produce in us the maturity that God is growing really requires patience and trust. The enemy will take advantage of our impulsivity to shortchange the plans of God. If we continue to read in the book of Daniel, we find the enemy manipulating time,
He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws.
When we attempt to manipulate and control time, we are actually agreeing with the enemy’s agenda and against God’s timing. Keeping in step with the Spirit means aligning one’s life with God’s direction as described in Galatians 5:25,
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Steps in Pursuit
- Recognize times in the past, when you attempted to manipulate the timing. What were the results? Can you recognize now, how waiting on God’s timing might have prevented some of the negative outcomes?
- Take some time like Daniel to thank God for the wisdom he is growing in you, which helps you to trust his timing for your life.
- Identify any current changes that God is preparing you for and ask him to help you stay in step with his Spirit in the process.
Maturing in sonship requires increased wisdom and sensitivity to the movement of God in our lives, so that like Jesus, we can experience the joy of accomplishing God’s plans for us in the fullness of time.
Continue the Pursuit,
Denise
