GOD HAS SET THE RIGHT TIME FOR EVERYTHING

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

MAY 22, 2023

TOPIC: GOD HAS SET THE RIGHT TIME FOR EVERYTHING

BY T. O. BANSO 

“He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 Good News Translation).

One of the greatest challenges facing human beings is knowing the right thing to do and the right time to do it. Many people will not be where they are today if they can get this right. But we often do the wrong things or do not do the right things at the right time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says there is a season for everything and a time for every purpose under heaven. This means there is a right time for everything. It also means that there is a wrong time. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Solomon tells us there is a time to do each thing he mentioned.

God knows the right time to do something. But you and I don’t always know this. 1 John 3:20b says, “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (New International Version).

Sometimes, we have failed in our endeavours because we did the wrong things or we did the right things at the wrong time. Sometimes we were late or too early. Talking about God, Solomon said, “He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 Good News Translation). Note the phrase “He has set the right time for everything.” The New King James Version renders this phrase as “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

The New Living Translation puts this scripture this way: “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”Also, the New Century Version renders it thus: “God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing.”

God has set the right time for whatever He wants to do in your life. He has set the right time for the fulfilment of His promises or when you should do what He has asked you to do or what He has put in your heart to do.

Jeremiah 8:7 says, “Even the birds in the sky know the right time to do things. The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes know when it is time to fly to a new home. But my people don’t know what the Lord wants them to do” (Easy-to-Read Version). Note the phrase: “Even the birds in the sky know the right time to do things.” The New King James Version renders it as “Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times.” Pay attention to the phrase “appointed times.” May you know what the Lord wants you to do and do it at the right time.  May you know the “appointed times” for what God wants to do in your life or has asked you to do.

God says in Isaiah 60:22b, “I am the Lord, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly” (New Century Version). If we know when God wants to do what He plans or promises to do, we will not be anxious or complaining. We will just look forward to the time and prepare for it. But we don’t always know the time.

God’s time is the best. This does not mean that we should remain idle and do nothing. But we should prayerfully seek to know from Him the right thing to do, when to do it, and then do it. God has a good plan for your life. He told the Israelites who were in exile in Babylon: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version).

God has the right time He wants to fulfil His plans in your life. He may have told you about the plans but you may not know the time. Sometimes we talk about delay when, in actual fact, it is not yet time. God sets the right time for everything.

The Bible talks so much about the appointed time, the time appointed by God, or the set time. For example, Hannah had a child at the set time or time appointed by God (Genesis 17:21; 18:14; 21:2). The Bible says, “Then the LORD appointed a set time, saying, ‘Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land’” (Exodus 9:5 New King James Version). That was before God caused all the livestock of the Egyptians to die while none of the livestock of the Israelites died.

Also in Daniel 8:19, the Bible talks about the appointed time thus: “And he said, ‘Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be’” (New King James Version). The same book also uses the phrase “the appointed time” in Daniel 11:27: “Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time” (New King James Version). Similarly, verse 35 says, “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time” (New King James Version).

Did you see the phrase “the appointed time” in all these scriptures? God works based on the time He has appointed or set. Understanding this, Job said in Job 14:13, “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!” (New King James Version).

God has set the right time for everything. In Psalm 75:2, God said, “When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly” (New King James Version). God will choose the right time for judgment. Ecclesiastes 3:17 says, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work” (New King James Version). 

God has set the right time for everything. It is our responsibility to key into the timing of God. We should be sensitive to divine timing and respond correctly. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3 New King James Version).

God has an appointed time for your promotion, deliverance, miracle, etc. He has a set time to bless you or answer your prayers. “You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come” (Psalm 102:13 New King James Version). Note the phrase “the set time.” His set time for you shall come.

God will do in your life at the set time what He wants to do. Be faithful in what you are doing now or where you are (Luke 16:11-12; 19:17). Don’t be anxious but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). Enquire from the Lord. Don’t assume you know. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7 New King James Version).

In addition, obey God in every area of your life as you wait for the fulfilment of His promises or manifestation of the answers to your prayer. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19 New International Version). Have faith in God (Mark 11:22). Don’t act hastily. Wait for the Lord. “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope” (Psalm 130:5 New King James Version). Jesus says in John 15:7 that if you abide in Him, and His words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Abide in Him and let His words abide in you.

It is frustrating to work against divine timing. It means one is operating outside the will of God. May the Holy Spirit sensitize your heart to divine timing and help you to do what you are supposed to do, for God’s sovereignty does not cancel man’s responsibility.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself.  I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

PRAYER POINTS: Holy Spirit, sensitize my heart to divine timing and help me to do what I am supposed to do. Help me to respond correctly. Father, You know everything: let me know the right things to do and do them at the time You have appointed or set. I shall not neglect my responsibility or act hastily; I shall walk in divine timing. Father, according to Your Word, make everything beautiful for me in its time.

(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org