Time is mentioned more than once in the Bible. There’s a chapter in Ecclesiastes on how there is a time for everything. God specifically chose a certain time schedule for creating the world and creating a day for rest. We also have the saying that he may not be early but he’s always on time. So, naturally, with God showing how important time is, Jesus was the one to give us examples. From his examples, I took away a few things about time when it comes to God.

There’s a time for us to be seen.

When Jesus was supposed to perform his first miracle, his brothers urged him to do it before his time. But he stressed that now is not the time for him to show himself. Because timing is everything. We cannot see the past the present or the future, but God can. So he knows when the timing is perfect for us to be present and seen in the world. He knows what others need to see us and understand us. He knows when we need to take that big step, that new position and go through that open door. His timing is always best. We may think it’s now, but God knows when.

There’s a time for us to stay hidden.

During the time that we are hidden, we learn and grow. Jesus was hidden for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of it, he went through tests that he passed and went on to begin his ministry. During our time that we are hidden, we will definitely learn, and we definitely will grow. However. we will have to go through tests as well. Once it’s time for us to come out, we will be ready for the world. This is a very important time that cannot be rushed through. 

There’s a time that we will have to be on God’s schedule.

Every day we plan for our time. We plan our mornings, afternoons and evenings. But there are situations we have to lean on God’s time instead. Whether it’s working our way towards a goal or walking that path to our healing. Even our prayers are all lined up for God’s timing. When Lazarus was dying, Jesus chose his time carefully to go see him. He chose it that way so God would be glorified the most. In the end, it is about God. 

There’s a time to fulfill your purpose.

We don’t always know what our purpose fully is, but we know that we need to follow the path that God is giving us. Using our gifts, we take those steps and chances believing at just the right time we will reach our purpose. When we look back we will be in awe of what God did with us during the time as we got to it. Jesus knew when his time was coming to die. He prepared for it and he prepared his disciples for it. They didn’t understand it, in the moment. But after it happened, the understanding set in.

There is a time for interruptions.

Even with interruptions, Jesus was seamless. Through his life, he never once ran anywhere. He was never impatient for something to happen. He was never eager to get it done with. Jesus understood the time needed to go by and it needed to be done. It was like those interruptions were part of the plan. Examples are the woman with the issue of the blood who is healed as he was on his way to heal someone else. Another is when he was teaching a room full of people and four men dropped their friend through the roof right in front of him. There were many moments when people interrupted, but Jesus just kept going for it.

Your time is valuable to God.

But it’s more important that it happens at His time. The miracles, the changes, the growth, the healing, all of it needs to happen at the right time for it to bear fruit. Understand that we do not know what time he’s looking for, but we need to lean on Him and His time. Trust that He is not late, but will be right on time