While children are small, they still cannot read; they do not even know how to tell time. But sooner or later the day comes when they learn. Even if some remain unable to read, everyone learns to recognize the message sent by the particular arrangement of the hands on a traditional clock or the digits on the face of a digital one. The problem, however, comes later — when you see that it is time to get up and go to school, but you do not feel like getting up or going; when you see that it is already late and you ought to be heading home, but you are enjoying yourself and you start to run late.
I think that on the threshold between the old year and the new one, it is fitting to reflect on time — and more precisely, on God’s time.
In the Bible we have many references to time. The first thing we discover about it is that there is a right time, a God-appointed time. In Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 we read:
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8)
Further down, in verse 17, it says:
17 I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.” (Ecclesiastes 3:17)
God cares about the degree to which we align ourselves with His timing for our lives. We are responsible for how we use our time. A thing is good if it comes at the right time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has made “everything beautiful in its time.” If we want to be blessed, we must reckon with God’s time and coordinate our time with His.
SENSITIVITY TO GOD’S TIME
In order to do that, however, we must first learn to recognize and understand God’s time. Jesus understood God’s time. He recognized when and to what extent God’s prophecies were being fulfilled. For example, in Luke 4:16–21 we read how He proclaimed the beginning of His ministry.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16–21)
Notice that Jesus said: “Today!” This had everything to do with time, and more precisely with God’s time. Just as striking is the moment at which Jesus stopped reading and closed the book. If we look at the passage in Isaiah that He read in its entirety, we will see that Jesus stopped reading right in the middle of the verse. Isaiah 61:2 says:
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, (Isaiah 61:2)
Jesus, however, read only about “the year of the Lord’s favor” and did not go on to read about “the day of vengeance of our God.” Why? Because He understood God’s time. With His first coming to this earth, we entered the era of God’s grace. When Jesus comes a second time, then He will proclaim the day of God’s vengeance and judgment. Jesus understood God’s prophecies. He understood God’s time. He knew what belonged to yesterday, what belonged to today, and what belonged to tomorrow. And He synchronized His ministry with God’s clock. He knew what He had to do at every single moment of His life, and He did it.
CAN YOU INTERPRET THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?
Sadly, a large part of Jesus’ contemporaries did not understand God’s time. And Jesus rebuked them for it. He told them that just as they could read the weather, so they ought to be able to read the spiritual season. Just as there is physical time — the time we track by our clocks, and the weather forecast, the change in atmospheric conditions announced every evening on television — so there is also spiritual time: a spiritual atmosphere and spiritual seasons, a time of opportunities and responsibilities. In Luke 12:54–56 we read:
54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? (Luke 12:54–56)
In Palestine a cloud from the west was evidence of moist air masses moving in from the Mediterranean Sea, and therefore of coming rain. The south wind, on the other hand, brought warm air masses from the desert and was a forerunner of rising temperatures. The people knew the signs of what lay ahead in the natural realm, but they did not know the spiritual time. In fact, it is not that people are so simple, not that they cannot sense the spiritual time — rather, they pretend not to understand, because it suits them, because it is easier for them, because that way they can escape responsibility. That is why Jesus called them “hypocrites.”
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE TIME WHEN YOU ARE BEING TESTED BY GOD?
Failing to understand God’s time, however, leads to ruin and a curse. In Luke 19:41–44 Jesus said of Jerusalem — of the people who could not recognize and interpret the signs of the time in which they lived — that because of their ignorance their city would be destroyed.
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:41–44)
Notice what, according to Jesus, would be the cause of Jerusalem’s future destruction: “because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” The time of God’s visitation is the time when God tests us to see how we will respond, what we will choose. Jerusalem did not recognize that it was being tested at that very moment; it did not recognize the opportunities and the grace that God was extending to it, and it did not respond appropriately. That is why it would be leveled to the ground.
WHAT IS IT TIME FOR IN YOUR LIFE?
Recognizing God’s time is decisive — both in public life and in personal life. In 2 Kings 5 we read about Gehazi. He was a disciple of Elisha, and he was expected to succeed him — just as Elisha had become the successor of Elijah. Yet Gehazi was not thinking so much about his spiritual preparation as about the material gain he could extract from his ministry. When God healed the Syrian Naaman of his leprosy, Elisha refused to accept his gift. Gehazi, however, chased after Naaman and by deceit took from him what Elisha had refused. When he returned, Gehazi hid the things he had “acquired” and stood before God’s prophet as if nothing had happened. But Elisha, full of the Holy Spirit, rebuked and cursed him (2 Kings 5:26–27).
26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? 27 Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. (2 Kings 5:26–27)
Notice what the prophet Elisha said: “Is this the time…?” Is this the time? Why did the leprosy come upon Gehazi? Because he did not recognize God’s time and did not conduct himself in a way that matched what was expected of him. Is it the time for you to be doing what you are doing? Is it the time to grow spiritually slack and to play with sin? Is it the time to doubt? Is it the time to pull back?
DO OUR ACTIONS MATCH GOD’S TIME?
In the book of the prophet Haggai we discover that failing to recognize God’s time can lead not only to destruction (as with Jerusalem), not only to sickness (as with Gehazi), but also to material crisis and poverty.
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” (Haggai 1:1–2)
Notice that the matter here is time. The year was 520 B.C. Sixteen years had passed since the laying of the foundations of the Second Temple. Two years after the building began, the work on it had stopped because of opposition from the enemies of the Jews. The project had stood frozen for fourteen years now. The time had come for the work on it to be resumed. The people, however, were not ready for it. There were voices saying: “The time has not yet come.” God, however, did not think so.
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. (Haggai 1:3–7)
“You planted much, but reaped little; you eat, but are never satisfied; you drink, but never quench your thirst; you dress, but are not warmed; you receive wages, but they run out in an instant.” What is this? Poverty, dissatisfaction, want, crisis, a shortage of means. Why? Because of a failure to recognize God’s time. The people thought it was time to panel their own houses, and did not think that it was time to finish God’s house.
8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. (Haggai 1:8–9)
Being out of step with God’s time can bring even drought — drought not only for the land, but spiritual drought as well — a lack of watering and blessing in every sphere of our life.
10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:10–11)
What is it time for in our life? Are we reckoning with God’s time? What does God expect from us in this new year? The answers to these questions are decisive when it comes to whether we will have God’s blessing this year. Will it be joyful and prosperous, or bad and parched? That does not depend on New Year’s customs, but on our reckoning with God’s time. There is no such thing as a bad time. There are bad choices and unsuitable actions. So then, may God give us the wisdom to recognize God’s time for our life, and help us to act appropriately to it in our life.
“WHAT?” “HOW?” AND “WHEN?”
Those who truly know God ought to know His times. In 1 Chronicles 12:32 there is a list of the soldiers who came to hand Saul’s kingdom over to David. Here we find something very exciting about the men of Issachar. It is said of them that they were “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” That is a tremendous compliment.
32 from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command; (1 Chronicles 12:32)
The men of Issachar understood that the time had come for the kingdom to be handed over to David, and so they took their stand on his side. They recognized God’s time and acted appropriately. They knew not only what had to be done, but how and when. May God help us to be like them as well. They knew not only how they themselves ought to act, but also how the whole nation ought to act.
WHEN WILL YOUR HOUR COME?
There are certain times when God uses us in a very special way for the salvation and blessing not only of ourselves, but of others. An example of this is Esther. She was a captive living in a foreign land. Yet God had a plan with her. King Xerxes was gravely offended by Queen Vashti and sought another queen. Then, out of all the young women in the whole empire, Esther was chosen to take Vashti’s place.
Esther was an orphan, and her cousin Mordecai was her guardian. During the selection he advised her not to reveal her ethnic background, not to say that she was a Jew (Esther 2:10, 20). Later Haman the Agagite set out to destroy the Jews, because he was angry with Mordecai for not bowing down to him. Haman manipulated King Xerxes into signing a decree for the extermination of the Jews, accusing them of being a danger to the kingdom, and he even paid for their destruction. So a day was appointed — the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which in the Jewish calendar is the month of Adar — when their enemies were to rise up against them, to kill them and seize their property. When Mordecai learned all this, he “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.” Then Mordecai asked Esther, at the risk of her own life, to go in before the king and to plead for her people. In his appeal he said to her:
13 Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13–14)
A hard time had come — a time of conspiracy, a time of death. But even for such a time, God had prepared a person — an instrument He would use to carry out deliverance and to preserve His people. Perhaps there is such a time for us too. A time of stepping forward and playing a special role in God’s plan for the salvation and good of the people around us. The time of preparation for such a decisive moment may last for years, but in the end it always comes. Might such a moment come for you in the new year? Are you ready for it? Esther responded to Mordecai’s appeal. She realized that her hour had come. After a three-day fast she went in before King Xerxes; he extended his scepter toward her, and she pleaded for her people. So Haman’s plan was thwarted, and the day planned for the destruction of the Jews turned into a celebration of victory over their enemies. This is where recognizing God’s time and responding appropriately to the situation in which we are placed leads.
For the Lord Jesus, such a decisive moment was His sacrifice at Golgotha — the time when He would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and would be unjustly accused, reviled, flogged, and delivered up to crucifixion. Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him. He knew what He had come into this world for, and He was preparing for it. This is especially emphasized in the Gospel according to John. Here are some references:
- John 2:4
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
- John 7:30
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 7:30)
- John 8:20
He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 8:20)
- John 12:23
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (John 12:23)
- John 13:1
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
- John 17:1
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. (John 17:1)
A LIFE ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL
Jesus understood God’s time. He understood when His hour was coming, and He acted in step with God’s clock. In this He is an example for us. In 1 Peter 4:1–2 the apostle calls us to live the time that remains to us on this earth not by human passions, but by the will of God.
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. (1 Peter 4:1–3)
To live according to God’s time in fact means to live according to God’s will. There is a general will of God and a specific will of God. The general is for all people, while the specific is personally for us. If we strive to live according to the general will of God, then God will guide us in our personal life as well. What is the general will of God for us? In the first place, if we have not yet done so, God’s will for us is to repent of our sins and be reconciled with God. In 2 Corinthians 6:1–2 it says:
1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1–2)
In the second place, the general will of God for us is to go to church, to love one another and to care for one another. In Hebrews it says:
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23–25)
In the third place, the general will of God for us is to live a holy life in the fear of God. In 1 Peter 1:17 it says:
14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:14–19)
In the fourth place, the general will of God for us is to “make the most of every opportunity” we have, by living our life under the control of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 5:15–21 it says:
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:15–21)
In the fifth place, but not the last, God’s will for us is to be witnesses for Jesus. After His resurrection Jesus appeared to His apostles over a period of forty days and explained to them the things concerning God’s kingdom. Then they asked Him a question about God’s time (Acts 1:6–8).
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:6–8)
This is what it is time for now, according to God’s clock — to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and to be witnesses for Jesus.
Let us not fall asleep! Let us not grow slack! For Jesus is coming again, and we must be ready to meet Him. In Romans 13 it says:
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11)
Time can be your friend! If you live according to God’s will, you can make it work for you. Then you will have success not only for yourself, but you will be a blessing to others as well!