God’s timing is never late, nor is it ever early. It is always right on time.
God’s timing, although always perfect, often seems late to us. When Christians find themselves in a predicament, they are quick to ask God to remove or resolve the situation. If the matter isn’t fixed promptly, they begin to doubt the goodness of God. In short, God needs to move faster. But here’s the truth: when God acts, it is always the right time. He is never late, nor is he ever early. He is always right on time.
In our series, Running with the Giants, we are studying heroes of the faith, such as Abraham, Gideon, and Deborah. We examine their stories because of the remarkable lives they lived. I love looking at the heroes of the faith, but let me add one more: Hudson Taylor.
For some of you, this may be a new name. No, Hudson Taylor was never mentioned in the Bible. He couldn’t have been. He was born in 1832. Hudson Taylor loved the Lord and was committed to having the whole world know of God’s love. With this mission in mind, Hudson Taylor moved to inland China to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t have time to tell you his entire story, but I would encourage you to research and read about his ministry and life. However, one account I do want to share tells of a time that Hudson had to wait on God’s timing.
There was a time when Hudson and his family were quickly running out of supplies. Desperately they prayed for God to provide some money for them, but the money never came. Meal after meal, they were rapidly depleting their food supply. As the story goes, when they had cooked their last meal, and they sat down to eat, there was a knock at the door. It was a man with an envelope. Hudson Taylor opened the envelope to find a check for the largest amount of money he had ever received on the mission field. God had provided for all their needs.
What I love most about this story is the beautiful timing of how it developed. Hudson had enough food to feed his family through the evening. Hudson didn’t need the money right away, he needed the money the next morning, and God provided. Often we want God to answer our prayers right away so we can start developing our backup plans in case God doesn’t deliver the way we want him to. What a great reminder of God’s faithfulness and timing!