The time God chooses

 

Yesterday I was reminded that time is not ours to control. No matter what, time moves forward, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second; we can’t stop it and we, for as hard as we may try, certainly cannot manipulate it.

Too many people seem to believe that they can live by any schedule they choose, not recognizing that everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses (Ecclesiastes 3:1 GNT). They think that they have all the time in the world and that, in their own time, they will turn to God.

Luke records a time when Jesus, upon seeing the destruction in Jerusalem, wept saying, you did not recognize the time when God came to save you (Luke 19:44 GNT). How many times have you not recognized God’s timing?

Sadly, this is not new, we humans love to take matters into our own hands when we think that things are taking too long to happen. Look at the mess Sarah made by forcing Abraham to have a child with her maidservant, Hagar because she could not wait for the time God chose. To this day there is conflict between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac.

The time God chooses is always the right time.

The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act. – 2 Peter 3:9 (GW)

God is not slow, He is patient for our sake, and you need to be patient for your own sake too. Don’t rush, wait on Him. David, in psalm 62, says to wait calmly on God because it is only from Him that our hope and salvation will come.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 explains that there are appointed times and seasons for everything and we need to truly understand that this applies to our lives.

I went to a garden centre yesterday and the attendant gave me a calendar which shows, among a host of interesting things, the days to plant for the best outcome. Too often we want to plant any time we feel like, reap when it’s not the right time for the harvest, sow seeds out of season and expect a bumper crop.

Waiting on the time God chooses is not easy but if we want our lives to bear good fruit, we simply must wait on Him. God will provide exactly what we need in the time that will result in the best outcome.

This is a lesson that most of us struggle with even though the Old Testament gives us so many examples to learn from – the entire account of the Israelites’ journey to the Promise Land is a master class in people not waiting for the time God chooses and we know how that ended; a generation did not enjoy the promise of God.

Beloved, don’t let that be your fate just because you want to move ahead of God’s timing. Even doing the right thing at the wrong time, as well-intentioned as it may be, will cause you to miss God every time.

Time, like everything under the sun, belongs to God. He controls the times and the seasons; He himself fixed beforehand the exact times (Daniel 2:21; Acts 17:26 GNT). Stop trying to force God’s hand, instead pray that you will gain a better understanding that the time God chooses is indeed the best time.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “The time God chooses” © 2026 July 9, 2026