God’s timing is perfect and perplexing!
In my devotions this morning I was reading from John 11 where Jesus raises his good friend Lazarus from the dead. If you haven’t read it, Jesus is notified by Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, that their brother is seriously sick. Of course they have seen Jesus heal a lot of people and probably have the utmost confidence that Jesus will come right over and heal their brother.
Only Jesus doesn’t do that, at least not right away. Jesus waits two days before he begins the journey with his disciples to see Lazarus. On the way to see Lazarus Jesus informs his disciples that Lazarus is dead. The disciples are a bit confused but they trudge along wondering where this is all going.
When Jesus arrives Martha meets him and gives him an earful. Who could blame her? From her perspective it’s too late. Of course Jesus saves the day by raising Lazarus from the dead but even after this glorious miracle I think people had questions. Questions like, “Why did you wait so long?”
Before Jesus left to see Lazarus he told his disciples he was going to do something that would glorify God. And it did glorify God! It was God’s perfect timing even if everyone else felt like God was late.
There are two Greek words used to describe time in the Bible. One word, Chronos, from which we get our word chronological, refers to man’s time. Man’s time is linear. We measure time by minutes and days and months and years and decades. Most of us keep tabs on time to make our appointments, show up to work on time, and know how many trips we’ve made around the sun.
Kairos time is God’s time. Unlike us, God is not locked into time as we know it. He stands outside of time. God’s time is divine and glorious and it can break into our time zones as God chooses. He doesn't need our permission. God’s time is about quality, not quantity.
Sometimes our time coincides with God’s time and sometimes it seems like God is late. From my own experience I’ve seen God show up early, right on time, and more often than not, late, at least from my perspective. Looking back across the years I now realize that God was always on time.
On the day I graduated from college I uttered a prayer to God that morning. I said, “Lord, I’m graduating from college today and I need a wife.” I met my wife that afternoon. That’s the quickest answer to prayer I’ve ever experienced.
Many of my prayers have taken years to be answered. The timing of some of those answered prayers still perplexed me. In Romans 8:28 it says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Like you I’ve wondered about why some people died way before their time. My mother-in-law passed away from cancer when she was 62. A couple of years before she passed, Karen and I lived with her parents for a few months. It was a difficult season. I was working with Karen’s father and brother doing construction work while at the same time doing interviews to find a ministry position in a church. During the time we stayed with Karen’s parents, I got to know her mother in a way I never would have had it not been for my break between churches. At the time I thought everything was wrong, but what I didn’t know is that God was giving Karen and me some Kairos time to spend with her mother before she passed.
Through the many decades of my life, I have come to appreciate God’s time and to actually prefer it over my time. He may not always show up when I want him to, but when he does, it’s perfect!
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve