A friend and I were texting recently about some good news she received. As we were doing so, we were struck by the timing that God had orchestrated. It was one of those “I love it when a plan comes together” types of occurrences, where everything seemed to be falling into place and this last piece of the puzzle, which was long-awaited for, fit nicely in right where it should be.
In the midst of thanking God for His graciousness in coordinating details so that this good fortune would occur at just the right time, I was reminded that God’s timing is good regardless of whether we recognize it or not. Sometimes, as in this case, we can see God’s hand at work and we joyfully celebrate that He has brought to completion the good work that we believe He had started. Other times, His plans are not so obvious. When we receive bad news, when the long-awaited opportunity doesn’t come, or when we patiently wait only to be disappointed at the outcome, we can be reticent to rejoice at God’s timing. We may wonder what He’s doing or question why He’s doing it, forgetting that both in the sunshine and in the rain, God is working out His good purposes.
However, despite what it may look like from our perspective God is not inconsistent with how He manages the details of our lives. His children can have confidence that He is always working for our good and for His glory (See Rom. 8:28). The good news we receive doesn’t increase His proclivity towards this aim, and the bad news we experience doesn’t prevent it. As is the case with any good father, he knows that our desires and plans may not be the best. He is willing to wait in order to give His children not merely acceptable gifts, but good ones, the best ones. He has promised not to withhold from us any good thing. If we truly believe that, than we can confidently trust God’s wisdom in choosing what He gives us and rely on His timing for when He does.
It’s easy to celebrate when the graciousness of God’s timing is made abundantly obvious to us. It’s more difficult to do so when this isn’t as readily apparent. However, whether we see it or not, we can trust that God’s timing is good. If we kept this perspective, perhaps we would be more inclined to find joy in Him, regardless of the type of news we receive.