Title: God’s Perfect Timing
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-13
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
The key text for this sermon is in Ecclesiastes 3:1, ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.’
The theme of this key text is ‘Everything has its time.’
The heart motivation for this sermon is God’s perfect timing.
Here the bible says there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Believers must know and believe that there is always God behind everything. God is in control, even though it doesn’t seem like it; when you look at the world and you look at your life.
The book of Ecclesiastes provided a long list of God’s perfect timing and then concluded with a very important truth that we must always remember. He has made EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME.
‘All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
God’s perfect timing does three things:
- It grows our faith.
- It makes certain that He and He alone gets the glory and praise for pulling us through.
- My times are in His hands.
Psalms 31:15 says, ‘My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.’
God has his own sense of timing. ‘With the LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.’ 2 Peter 3:8-9 shows us that a single day can stretch like a thousand years to God, and a thousand years can shrink like a day.
He isn’t slow; He’s patient. God’s clock ticks differently than ours. He has perfect timing: never early, never late. God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time. Daniel 4:32 says that the LORD is sovereign over the future.
There is a quote that says, ‘God has perfect timing: never early, never late. It takes a little patience and it takes a lot of faith, but it is worth the wait.’
Three characters in the bible and 3 things that we can learn about God’s perfect timing.
- Everything Beautiful
In Job we learn about everything beautiful in God’s perfect timing
We may never understand about every single thing that happen in our life. In Deu 29:29, God said, ‘The secret things belong to the LORD our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Law.’
Daniel 12:8-9 wrote ‘Although I heard I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My Lord what shall be the end of these things? And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’
God only ask one thing from us that we DO all the words of the law, all the words that were already given to us.
Isaiah 55:8-9, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways; For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ This verse means that God has a plan, full of hope and a future for us.
When Job got so many bad things happened in one day; he lost his property and his children, he was not able to understand everything but one thing he said in Job 1:2, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’
- Waiting is never wasted
In Abraham, we learned that waiting is never wasted. While waiting God want us to live well. He wants us to continue to serve Him and believe in Him.
In the bustling fast paced society we inhabit, waiting has become somewhat of a lost art. We crave quick solutions, instant outcomes, and real-times updates. And guess what? When our prayers seemed unanswered, our patience wears thin.
The story of Abraham is more than just an account of historical events; it is a lesson we could all use.
God’s clock doesn’t sync with ours, and that’s a good thing. Why is that a good thing? Because God’s timing is perfect. It isn’t ruled by worldly deadlines or social pressures. It is orchestrated for our ultimate good and His divine purpose. So, when we’re desperate for life to speed up God often slows us down for a reason. We may not understand it at the time, but in hindsight we realize His timing was perfect.
Waiting is never wasted. Waiting may feel like a passive act, but in God’s economy, it’s anything but idle time. Abraham’s years of waiting were also years of preparation. Those years enabled him to grow strong in his faith, to deepen his relationship with God, and to prepare him for the enormous responsibility that was to come
The Art of waiting. The key to waiting effectively is to actively engage with God during the process. God wants us to consider the followings while waiting for God to act:
- Pray
- Study God’s word
- Serve
- Praise
- The work of God from beginning to end
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
In Daniel, we learn of the work of God from beginning to end. Daniel has also wanted to know the future of His people.And God showed His work to Daniel from the beginning to the end. Our journey with God in this world is only a little bit compared to eternity.
The work of God from beginning to the end is part of His perfect timing. And at the end of God’s perfect timing, we are told that we win. Let’s dwell on the end of God’s work which is in His perfect timing.
70 weeks in Daniel’s prophecy is the secret of God’s perfect timing as well. We have been told that 70 weeks are divided into 3 parts: 7 weeks, 62 weeks and the blessed last 1 week. The first part and the second part has already been finished or fulfilled as the Messiah already came in this world and finished His mission upon the cross when He said, ‘It is done.’ So, now we are waiting for the last week, the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy which will finish everything, make an end, seal up all vision and prophecy.
Daniel has been told that in the middle of the 70th week everything will become very evil, immoral, corrupt. The wing of abominations will rule everything. God also mentioned how the beast in Revelation was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and he was given authority to continue for 42 months which equals 3.5 years.
A lot of things will happen during that week and we can believe it is part of God’s perfect timing. There is a time for everything. There is a time for the Messiah to come to this world. There is a time for the church to grow and expand globally. There is a time for the latter rain. There is a time for the rapture and there is a time to finish everything.
In conclusion, I know it is very difficult to believe there is such a thing as God’s perfect timing, especially when you are going through what you are going through right now. Everything is so negative, you mind and soul are stretch to the limit and you are confused and bewildered. Your faith is running low and maybe your heart is just about to give up. But God showed so clearly that there is such a thing a God’s perfect timing in the person of Jesus. Galatians 4:4 says, ‘But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.’ Galatians 4:4 shows us that Jesus came at just the right moment. God had a special plan and Jesus followed it perfectly. This verse tells us that Jesus was born exactly when God wanted Him to be. It was no accident; every part of His birth, from being under Jewish law to having Mary as His mother, was on purpose. This moment marked something huge for everyone. Because Jesus arrived on time, we all got the chance to join God’s family and share in what He has for us. The timing wasn’t random – it was planned with care and love so that people could find redemption and become children of God through Christ’s coming. Your salvation wasn’t a mistake. It was planned even in your mother’s womb. Your coming into contact with Christ was God’s perfect timing. Your coming to this church was God’s perfect timing. Believe in God’s perfect timing and surrender this lives of yours to God.
