Your Timing Is Everything

“There is a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little!”

Ecclesiastes 8:6 (GNT)

In many aspects of your life—from business decisions to your closest relationships—timing can make all the difference. And, as a follower of Christ, its critical for you to stay tuned in to God’s timing.

Every great accomplishment involves timing. A successful football catch requires incredible timing between quarterback and receiver. In business, good timing in the market—particularly decisions about hiring and expanding—can mean everything. If you sing, you know how important it is to keep time with the other musicians.

Many years ago, I wrote a book called The Purpose Driven Church. In the first chapter I compare leadership to surfing. No surfer says, “Let’s go make some waves today.” Surfers can’t create waves in the ocean. Only God can do that. Surfers wait for the waves that God creates.

That means surfers spend a lot of time waiting. Sometimes they might see a wave and let it go, knowing it’s not the right time. Then the surfer sees just the right wave, starts paddling faster and faster, catches the wave, rides the wave, and gets off the wave without wiping out.

Surfing looks easy, but it requires a lot of skill. The same is true in life. You have to develop the skill of timing. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 8:6, “There is a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little!” (GNT).

There’s a rhythm to life. Learning to do the right thing at the right time takes skill. Christians often call that skill “walking in the Spirit.” The more you grow as a follower of Christ, the better you get at walking in the Spirit. Sometimes God’s Spirit leads you to run fast. Sometimes he leads you to walk slowly.

For the next several days we’re going to look at when God usually wants you to speed up and when he might want you to slow down. You can live life trying to make your own waves. Or you can learn to see and catch the waves God is making all around you.

Talk It Over

  • When has your timing—maybe in a business decision or in a relationship—been just right? When has it been wrong?
  • When have you tried to make your own waves in life rather than waiting for God to make the waves? What has been the result?
  • Have you ever felt yourself walking in God’s Spirit? What did that feel like?

Have you trusted Jesus with your life?

The Bible says you can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast ” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

If you’re ready to confess your sins and to trust Jesus with your life, start with this prayer:

“Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in Jesus, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I submit to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. Jesus, I want to follow you and serve you. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at [email protected] and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.


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