When the Right Time is the Right Time


Have you ever known what God wanted you to do, but you didn’t know when God wanted you to do it? This is different than knowing God’s will. Sometimes we know God’s will. We know what He wants us to do, maybe even where He wants us to do it, and maybe even how – we just don’t know whenHow do you know when the right time is the right time?

This question is suggested by John 7:1-10 because Jesus obviously knew the difference between the right and wrong time. After his brothers urge him to go to Jerusalem to display His powers as Messiah, Jesus says, "My time has not yet come." He knew when the right time was the right time. How can we know?

In yesterday's message, we considered three ways. You can know when the right time is the right time:

  1. By spending time listening to God. Prayer and BIble study are the main ways. Psalm 119:130 declares “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
  2. By waiting on God.  Waiting on God is hard, but it can be a powerful time. When we wait on God, we are not passive and neither is God. The waiting is not a time to twiddle our thumbs or surf the internet. It is a time of preparation. God grows us in the waiting. He teaches us in the waiting. He draws us closer to Him in the waiting. Waiting on God is like the winding of a toy or the stretching of a bow. In the waiting, God prepares to launch us in His way in His time upon His trajectory.
  3. Be being sensitive to cues from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses a variety of things to cue us. He’ll use God’s word, another person, a sense in our spirit, or even our circumstances to cue us to God’s timing.

You can listen to yesterday’s service HERE.