God’s Timing is Everything

Whew! Hands up if you are starting to feel overwhelmed?

Yep I am too.

I sat down and did a massive Brain Dump. It felt good to get everything out of my brain, onto paper and my white board. But when I reviewed my to-do list, I felt discouraged – How am I going to do all that? When am I going to do it all? and What shall I start with first?

Have you felt like that recently? Maybe you are organising your children’s start back to school or your homeschool curriculum. Maybe you want to carry out some renovations and there seems to be too much to project manage. Or just the day to day organising of your household and your own life is becoming a bit too much. Then this little email is for you!

God wants us to know this……There Is NO Hurry!

Yes, it is good to have a to-do list, action plan or list of goals for the year. It is good to develop focus, as I have written before – what we focus on, we become.

But let’s strip away our expectations on the timetable.

Let’s bring our lists to God, lay them at his feet.

He knows what pulls at our time. He knows what we would like to achieve this year. But He also has a timetable and it’s perfectly orchestrated. He has a heavenly calendar and He invites us to each task when it is the appointed time.

Devo Time – God’s Timing vs Our Timing

Here are 7 verses that speak volumes on God’s timing. Spend some time this week in His Word. One verse a day. As mentioned in previous emails, here is my formula for hearing from God through His Word:

• • Pray and ask God to speak life to you.
  • Write the day’s verse in your journal or on a piece of paper. Read the surrounding verses for context.
  • Look up other translations of the same verse. If anything sticks out to you – write it down also. You can use BibleGateway.com to help.
  • Circle words that stick out to you. Look up their Greek or Hebrew meanings (you can use BlueLetterBible.com to help).
  • Ponder the verse throughout the day. What are the actions in the verse? Speak to God about it. What does He want you to learn from it. How does it apply to your day?
  • At the end of the day, note down what you have learned about living and walking in the Spirit – what is your takeaway point?

1. Ecc 3:1 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”
2. Proverbs 19:2 “Desire without knowledge is not good and whoever makes hase with his feet misses his way.”
3. Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty”.
4. Hebrews 4:11 “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience”.
5. 2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.”
6. Psalm 31:15a “My times are in your hand”.
7. Ecc 3:11a ” He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity into man’s heart.”
   (Above verses are all taken from the ESV version)

I spent some time today mulling over the last verse – He has made everything beautiful it’s time. How freeing it is to know that God has a set time for everything!

God’s timing brings beauty with it!

As you can see from my journaling in the image below – the word for beauty is yapheh and it means good, appropriate and something that goes beyond the normal such as a miracle, wonder or a beauty. I want my to-do/goals list to bring beauty into my world, don’t you?

Action Step: Take your to do list or even your daily tasks to God today and ask Him to lead you into His timing. Some things you may have to leave to next year or the year after. Some things he may shorten the time needed to do them. Whatever is His timing, let’s leave it in HIs hands as we rest and listen to His promptings and move when He moves.

Comment below and let me know what is on your todo/goal list for this year. I love to hear your feedback and how I can help you to grow in your spiritual and personal life this year.

Keep Leaning into God – Start 2019 Well

Rachel Larkin