There Comes a Time
Written by Jay Jones
Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Solomon writes, ) I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Given the many details that a presidential inaugural committee must cope with, mistakes are inevitable. So it was that Franklin Delano Roosevelt received an invitation to his own January 20, 1937 presidential inauguration! Through the White House social bureau, he solemnly sent word that “the press of official business would keep him away”. Then, relenting, he sent a further note in his own handwriting: “I have rearranged my engagements and think I may be able to attend. I will know definitely by January 19. F.D.R.”
Appointments are clever devices that men and women use to arrange and remind themselves of an agreed-upon meeting.
Appointments are often made, and seldom kept. They are the curse and the blessing of the busy lifestyle.
Appointments are set, and kept. Set and broken. Rescheduled and juggled to the whim and fancy of the unmindful and inconvenienced.
However, appointments within the realm of the supernatural are the pre-ordained celebrations of the majesty of God’s power.
Timetables, appointments and schedules appear regularly throughout scripture, and while the God of Creation is not bound by the constraints of earthly time, the ticking of every second holds an immense weight in the lives of mankind.
In Genesis 1, God placed the sun in the sky to give light to the world and to dictate the passing of time. Hours, days, months and seasons have governed the existence of life since the dawn of creation.
More than 560 times in the Bible, God mentions time, and nearly 800 times he references the passing of days. It’s clear that the measurement of time is God’s ordained system of appointing events in our lives. In fact, Heb 9:27 tells us, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (emphasis mine).
It stands to reason that, given God’s obvious inclination to punctuality, he would choose to use this system of appointments to mete out the blessings that are directed toward his people!
The prophet Elisha was blessed by a Shunamite woman, and in return for her faithful care of this man of God, she was promised a son… the thing that she so desired to have. Listen to this discourse…
2 Kings 4:14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi (his servant) answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16a And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.
God had an appointment with this woman. It was already jotted down in His DayTimer. Penciled in on the calender. It was declared to her. Spoken by the prophet, under the authority of God. Yet it seemed so outrageous… so out of reach… so UNBELIEVABLE, that this desperate woman couldn’t comprehend the authenticity of the promise.
16b And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
This woman simply didn’t want to be disappointed again in life. She’s already had too much of that. She was imploring the man of God, “Please… tell me it’s true! Tell me there’s really hope for me! Don’t just make a promise that I’ll cling to only to realize it was all a fantasy. Tell me it’s real!” Maybe you know what it’s like to hear the word of God spoken into your life, and you somehow can’t fathom that it could really happen to you. You’ve been hurt too many times before. “God, can this really happen for me? Please… tell me it’s really true!”
Be careful when you dare to deny the promise of God in your life! In Genesis 18, God rebuked Sarah for her unbelief at the imminent fulfillment of His promise!
Genesis 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, How can I bear a child, when I’m old?
14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
When God proclaims promise, there is no room for doubting. When God testifies of His timing, there is no place for a shrine to skepticism! Because when God is ready, there comes a time!
2 Kings 4:17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
I want to declare to you right now, that your blessing has a due-date! God has declared it, and ordained it in you. It’s an appointment set by God himself!
When God gives a promise, He always attaches a due date! You may not know when it is, but there is a time appointed! There is a season of life that is waiting for its delivery! Every deliverance ever declared in Scripture had a due date… a time of fulfillment.
The rock that sailed through the air, after being flung be a young shepherd’s leather sling, was on a flight of destiny. There was an appointed time… a date with destiny… when that small stone would meet with the fleshy forehead of a boastful giant named Goliath. There came a time.
There was a scheduled liaison between the dust-covered ground and tons of falling rubble as the walls of Jericho fell into the timetable of God’s deliverance! There came a time!
The sun and the moon stood still for Joshua and the Children of Israel just to ensure that their victory would be consummated on the Timetable of God! There came a time!
The second hand ticked over to the ordained position in time as the calloused fingers of an aging woman brushed across the fabric of Jesus’ robe. It had been 12 long years, but there came a time!
The sun slipped quietly overhead, anxiously awaiting it’s opportunity to peek from behind the cloud and reveal itself for the first time in Blind Bartimaeus’ life. At the very instant Jesus spoke the last word of this phrase, “Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole!”… the culmination of God’s divine appointment with Bartimaeus’ faith… his eyes opened to reveal the manifest blessings of God!
Bartimaeus had his detractors, yes. And you will have yours once you lay hold of the hope of your deliverance… but he was not deterred. He pressed forward as the clock was ticking ever so near to his appointed time!
In April of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter from a Birmingham jail to a group of clergymen. In this letter imploring them to stop criticizing his fight for freedom, he penned the following words, “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”
Church, there is a due date on the blessings that God has declared in your life!
There is a divine appointment for your healing!
There is a scheduled drop-off for your deliverance!
Do not let the enemy detract you from your personal revival! Man of God! Woman of God! There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and you are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair! There comes a time!
Joshua, there is a walled city waiting to come crashing down for you!
Sarah, there is a son waiting to be born!
David, there is a Goliath waiting to fall!
Paul, there is a city ready to be won to God!
Ecclesiastes 3:1 …there is… a time to every purpose under the heaven:
There comes a time.
Jay Jones is the administrator of Apostolic Living, and the proud pastor of The Pentecostals in Kentwood, Michigan.
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Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:22 am