God’s Timing Not Ours
If one thing has stuck out to me in the last year it is how God is always in control of the timing of events. I have seen it in my own life with completion of plans that were thought to be put aside. We have also seen how God placed certain people in a specific time such as Queen Esther “And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”” Esther 4:14b. Recently I have even seen how God was in control in His timing for the salvation of mankind.
I was reading through the book of Luke and came across a statement that I must have overlooked at least a dozen times. It occurs when the angel Gabriel is speaking with Zacharias regarding Elizabeth bearing him a son. Zacharias was doubtful that this would come to pass due to his and his wife’s advanced age, as a result Gabriel sealed Zacharias’ lips until the child was born. While this on its own can be a topic of discussion, I want to focus on one line spoken by Gabriel. “20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”” Luke 1:20
Did you catch it? Gabriel’s words would be fulfilled at the proper time. This means that God had left Elizabeth and Zacharias without a child until this specific point in history! The child that was to be born to them would be the one who would go before Christ proclaiming God’s power and bringing back many to God. Their son would be remembered as one of the greatest men of faith, but they had to wait until this time for him to be born. If Elizabeth and Zacharias were to only have one child, then the child would have to be born when the timing was right for him to fulfill what he was destined to do.
In one sense, Elizabeth and Zacharias had to wait until Mary was of age. When you read through you can see that there is a significant age difference between Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth was described as being advanced in years while Mary was old enough to just now be betrothed. Elizabeth acted as proof that what the angel told Mary was going to happen was the truth. Not only that, but the disciples themselves had to be born at that time, including Judas.
However, there is more to the timing of events. If it was not for the Greeks who had brought the common language of Greek to the known world, the gospel would have been much harder to spread. Second, Rome needed to build the roads throughout the empire allowing for missionary travel to be easier. All this was done for other reasons, but when you look at it from God’s perspective you see that years before the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ there was already a specific time frame and work being accomplished. Just think of Caesar Augustus had to have the idea for a census, thus forcing Joseph and Marry back to Bethlehem right before Jesus was born.
When presented with this, how can we not see how great our God is? He planned out the moment for salvation to be presented for all of mankind at that specific timeframe. Jesus met with those who He was meant to at that time, He knew whose hearts He was going to touch while on earth. If God could plan this wondrous timeframe so perfectly how can we doubt that He has a plan for us? God arranged the Greeks to bring a common language, the Romans to build the roads, Caesar for his census to prepare the foundation for what was to happen. God placed Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, and the disciples at that moment in time to complete a purpose that He had planned. God allowed for roads to be built and the sharing of a common language to take place in the time when His Son would begin His ministry on earth. Nothing was by chance, and nothing was out of God’s control. This is the same for us, we are here in this moment, facing these circumstances, to complete God’s plan and glory. This should give us comfort as we go about our day in these uncertain times.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex