Throughout human history countless events, from the life changing to the mundane have unfolded across the face of the earth. As overwhelming as it is to try to comprehend the complexity of the network that interconnects so many of these events, the Bible makes it clear that God understands it all. From the massive wars that affect great nations and untold millions of people, to the sparrow that falls to the earth unseen by man, God is aware of it all.
But what is perhaps more amazing still is that God not only understands the complexity of the world’s infinite interactions, He is actually behind them shaping, controlling, and directing the flow of events so as to accomplish His will in earth – both at a world-wide level and in the individual lives of his children. And in addition to the sheer number of world events, consider the precise time at which they must unfold in order to connect them altogether. Ecclesiastes 3:1 makes the following statement:
“There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven”
Consider the following examples of God accomplishing his
will “at the appointed time.” In
Genesis 21:1-2 we see the fulfillment of God’s promise to give Abraham a son
through his wife Sarah. Verse 2 of
this passage says,
“Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.”
At age 100, Abraham and Sarah had the child that God had promised them. But what is not readily apparent from this verse is that God had indicated they would have this “son of promise” some 25 years before, but it was not until “the appointed time,” that this promise fulfilled. In Psalm 105:19-21 we read these words about the life of Joseph:
“Until the time that his word came to pass, the world of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples and set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions.”
As with the birth of Isaac, this fulfillment of the Promise God had made to Joseph came many years after God had first spoken it to him.
We again see this principle in the birth of Jesus, which had been prophesied for thousands of years, but was not fulfilled until “The time had fully come.” (Galatians 4:4)
In Acts 1:6 the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, is it at
this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” His response to them was, “It is not for
you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.”
God will bring his words to pass at the appointed time. If you feel like God has somehow forgotten you or the promises He has made to you, take courage! Like David in Psalm 31:14-15, let your heart say,
“I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in Your hand!’ ”