God’s Timing Is Always Perfect

Lessons Learned on God’s Timing

God’s timing is always perfect. Recently someone asked me to share one thing that I had learned in the past month. Blankly, I looked at my husband and said, “I don’t know how to answer that. What have I learned?”

He quickly responded, “We learned that you are good in a crisis.” Recently my 89-year-old grandfather took a tumble off a step ladder. I’m well aware that he shouldn’t be on a step ladder, if you know how to glue him to his recliner, we’d love all the help we can get. 

God’s Timing Is Always Best

But I can tell you without a doubt God’s hand was in the whole story that day. That day my mom and I had run errands and had just returned home. I dropped her off and headed to my house to do a few things before picking up my son from track practice. As I was driving by my grandfather’s house I looked over because I saw a garage door up. I saw his teal shirt on the floor. Quickly I made a U-turn, parked, and was on the ground by his side in less than sixty seconds. 

He had hit his head and cut his hand. I’ll save the details. Thankfully that was all that seemed to be wrong. I quickly called the paramedics (who are phenomenal!) and my mom to come. I put pressure on his hand to help stop the bleeding.

But God

After the ambulance took Papaw to the hospital to be checked out further, I began to clean up the garage and get things closed back up.  His tools were strewn across the floor and his truck was still parked outside. As I walked into his house, all I could do was sit on the chair in his living room and praise God. God had orchestrated that I would drive by at that exact time, He orchestrated there was no traffic and I could turn around easily, He made sure I was thinking clearly and communicating efficiently with my grandfather, my mom, and the dispatcher. He made sure I remembered basic first aid. I didn’t freeze when I was pushed. (please keep in mind, there are some days I don’t know the date much less my name.) But God. 

This isn’t the first time that  I’ve been able to see God’s hand in the middle of a crisis. It often feels like God is working things out behind the scenes and we don’t even realize it.

Esther

Esther is one of my favorite books of the Bible. In the book of Esther, we meet the woman who was able to save her people because of events that God orchestrated for her. She was in the right place at the right time, and it was no coincidence that she found herself the queen of King Xerxes. She was in a place of power and had found favor with the king. 

Esther (also called Hadassah – Esther means star) was raised by her cousin Mordecai after her parents had passed. He had advised Esther against revealing her nationality and family background (Esther 2:10) to anyone. After the banquet celebrating Esther being crowned queen, Mordecai was on duty at the gate of the King where he overheard two eunuchs. According to   Merriam-Webster.com., a eunuch is a man in charge of a harem. The eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh were angry with the king and planned to assassinate him. Mordeaci got the information to Queen Esther and she was able to save King Xerxes while giving credit to Mordeaci for the information. The eunuchs were impaled on a pole (Esther 2:23).

Haman

Later a man named Haman became King Xerxes’ right-hand man. Haman allowed pride to get the better of him and demanded that the other servants bow down to him. Mordecai refused, which made Haman extremely angry. Haman went before the king saying, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.” (Esther 3:8b-9 NLT).

The decree was approved and sent out among the lands. The message spread throughout the empire, “giving the order that all Jews –  young and old, including women and children – must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day…The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.” (Esther 3:13 NLT).

Mordecai

Mordecai took the information to Esther.  She agreed to go visit the king after Mordecai said, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”  (Esther 4:14b NIV). Even though she could be killed if he refused to see her, she went. You weren’t allowed to just go visit the king, you were summoned. 

God’s Chosen People

God orchestrated the events to save his chosen people. He placed people in the right positions, at the right times to fulfill His plans. 

Esther asks the King for a banquet to honor the King, and for Haman to join her. Meanwhile, Haman was still angry with Mordeaci and went home and told his friends and wife to set up a pole so he could impale Mordeaci on it. Later that night, King Xerxes couldn’t sleep and asked for someone to read the chronicles of his reign to him. (Apparently, it was a snoozer).

While listening to the chronicles he discovered the account of the assassination plot. The King asked what Mordecai’s reward was for doing that. Haman showed up, cocky as ever, thinking the king was going to do something great for him. Instead, the King wanted Mordecai honored by utilizing Haman’s ideas. Haman thought the reward was for him, instead the reward was for Mordecai. 

A Time Such As This

At the banquet, Esther asked the King to spare the lives of her people. King Xerxes didn’t know that the last decree Haman had gotten him to agree to would affect Esther. Haman pleaded with Esther, but the King didn’t find that favorable and ordered him to be impaled on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. King Xerxes then gave Esther a new decree stating that the Jews could defend themselves. 

Esther was placed in the palace for a time such as this one. She was there with the power to make changes and save her people because God orchestrated it that way. God placed me in the right place at the right time. I’m not a queen or someone saving an entire population but that day I helped my grandfather. I was able quickly to get him the care he needed. 

Lessons Learned

I have learned something – because of God, I am good in crisis. Because of God I can face hard things, and be okay. I can’t do any of that on my own but with God, anything is possible. The next time you find yourself in a situation where you have a lot of “What-ifs”, just remember that God placed you exactly where He knew you needed to be, at the exact time you needed to be there.

Reflection

1. Have you found yourself in a situation where you know God orchestrated every detail?
2. How can I pray for you this week?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for orchestrating the details. Thank you for putting me in the right place at the right time. We thank you for your goodness and mercy. Forgive us of our disobedience. Thank you Lord. In Your Son’s name, we pray. Amen.

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Resources

“Eunuch Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eunuch?utm_campaign=sd&utm_medium=serp&utm_source=jsonld. Accessed 17 April 2024.