Devotionals

The Beauty of His Time

by Emily Chimpanzi
07/30/15
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Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

At times, I have found myself desperately waiting, anticipating, expecting and believing; my faith racing against the clock, praying and whispering “Father, answer my prayer, hear my cry, please help me”.

At other times pacing up and down declaring boldly “Father, as your word says, we shall decree a thing and it shall be established, I stand here, with mountain moving faith, with no doubt in my heart that nothing is impossible with You, I decree this thing into establishment” and yet the wait continues, the prayer intensifies and my faith pushes against the limitation of time. Tick, tick, tick, the clock seems to outrun my faith towards what seems like a defining moment. At times my faith sits still in silent expectation; sometimes it bursts out boisterously, declaring my expectation.

  Most of the time, to my greatest delight, the Lord comes through just in time, before the clock’s last tick towards the defining moment, having tested my faith right through to the end and found it triumphant in annihilating the mountain. In these moments I burst out in dance, song and praise at just how mighty my Father is, how powerful He is and how faithful He is! The sweet songs of victory hum melodiously in my heart and mind. His praise easily escapes my lips.

However, sometimes the clock’s last stroke announces the fact that the finite has seemingly overridden the infinite, meaning the limitation of time has announced the defeat of my faith. The seen (time) has outweighed the unseen (my faith). My faith stumbles under the intensity of the trial, and the echo of the evil one chuckling away at what seems like defeat breaks my heart. Have my decrees fallen on deaf ears? Did my cry go by unheard by my Father?

And then I am reminded of the admonishing words from Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:18 “we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” There must be more to what meets the eye. I remind myself that all God does, is guided by His purpose. I recall that “there is a time for every purpose under heaven.” And so my faith pushes through the barrier of disappointment, I hear the songs of hope arising from my spirit, cheering me on and lifting my face. I hear Him whisper, "you are not forgotten and I don’t make mistakes". I hear Him sing over me with His love reminding me of just how deep, how wide and how high His love is.

I hear His word say to me “He makes all things beautiful in His time” and I realise time is in His hands and most importantly my times are in His capable hands. I realise time which is finite can’t defeat His sovereignty.

Then I hear a different song arise, a song of worship, that lifts it’s melody above the circumstance, in total admiration of my God, my Father, the Almighty and Sovereign One. Yes, the One whose thoughts are beyond my own; whose plans and ways are too enormous for my own comprehension. I begin to rejoice believing that this light affliction is for a moment, and “it is working for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
I smile and affirm myself that it is all in the plan. And surely when the moment has passed and the beauty of His plans begin to unfold, I realise that indeed it was all part of the plan. I realise the beauty of time is not in my time but in His time and indeed all things are beautiful in His time. I realise that when it is His time His purpose must be fulfilled and no one can stop it. I realise that I may have made my plans, but He has ordered my steps and I would rather have my steps ordered by Him than have my own plans fulfilled. I realise that not only is my faith stronger and my heart more yielding but my love and admiration for Him and His plan has grown, expanding my trust in Him and bringing to reality the surrendered state of my life. I rejoice in having attained the status of an unconditional worshiper. I rejoice in the beauty of His time and plan