Ecclesiastes 3:11 New Living Translation
11 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.
The scripture above is one that I am very familiar with, but as I studied it a few days ago, I understood it a little differently. As believers, it is important to never approach God’s word like regular literature. When it comes to the word of God, never think, “I’ve read that passage before, or I know that scripture already.”
We must truly believe that God’s word is true, powerful and most importantly, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to explain the scriptures to us - giving us the application of that word for our current season.
The first part of this scripture opened up with new meaning for me. “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time” or as rendered in NKJV; “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” As I meditated on this scripture, it became clear to me that for us to enjoy the beauty God planned for us, we must be doing the right thing in the right season. Doing the right thing in the wrong season will not produce the same beauty God has planned for such action. It has to be the right thing at the right time!
What is this beauty anyway?
Psalms 90:17 NKJV says “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.”
The same scripture in the New Living Translation says: “And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!”
The New Living Translation rendered the beauty of God as God’s approval. This approval is what makes one’s effort successful. In essence, the beauty of God (God’s approval) is what amplifies our human effort and causes others to take notice.
When we find ourselves doing what God has planned out for our lives in the right season, the beauty of the Lord shows forth through our endeavours. This then means that we must be well aware of what we should be doing in each season of our lives and at every point in time.
At our home church, Believers House, we make this confession before we leave the sanctuary to head into our week and I believe it’s one we all should be making from time to time as well.
“By the grace of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will always be, in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, with the right people!”
You might be asking or thinking, I have an idea what God has asked me to do but I just don’t know when to make a move towards fulfilling those things. And for some, it might be that you have no idea what the Lord would have you do with your life. The best place to start is to be faithful with whatever it is you are doing right now. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” God never gives you the full details of His plans for you at once anyway. He reveals them one step at a time as He finds you faithful with the last instruction. As He gives you instructions about things, no matter how big or how small, be sure to obey those instructions and He will show you the next phase of the assignment.
Colossians 3:23-24 New Living Translation
23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
I like to describe the process of waiting on God as a big jigsaw puzzle. If God gives us all the pieces of the puzzle at the same time, we will certainly become overwhelmed trying to fit it all together, so He gives the pieces to us in bits so it’s much easier to solve. Most importantly, God wants us to keep coming back to Him for direction and not just keep running on past instructions. He wants to instruct us every single step of the way. Until we take steps of obedience, God is not obligated to show us what the rest of His plans are.
It is also important to point out that waiting on God for the “perfect time” does not mean inactivity or laziness on our part but rather, it means we are spending time being built up in God’s presence while we wait. It should be time to develop strength, stamina, character, faith, and the skills needed for the journey ahead. Our waiting time is the time to be faithful with the seemly little or not so relevant things we find ourselves doing right now.
King David’s life is a good illustration of this principle. Before he was anointed king, he was a faithful shepherd. The opportunity to kill a bear and lion was presented to him because he was out on the field with the sheep. This was the experience he recalled before confronting Goliath. Even after defeating Goliath, he wasn’t crowned the king of Israel until years later. Through all of these phases of his life, David was faithful, and he kept on developing himself until he eventually became the King of Israel.
Joseph also had a similar experience. He was found faithful both as a servant in Potiphar’s house and in the prison. He wasn’t waiting for the perfect time to do what he knew was right. Even as a slave, he served his master well, not with bitterness of heart but with joy.
Ask yourself these questions:
· How do you respond to your simple daily tasks or chores?
· Do you serve and work at things with the right attitude?
· Do you serve your friends, colleagues, boss, employer, students, patients, customers etc as if you were serving Christ?
I pray that you will not be discouraged through the process God is taking you through on this journey of purpose. God truly makes things beautiful in its time. Work at whatever was the last instruction God gave you and work at it faithfully.
Have a blessed month.
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Join us for More Than Rubies Women Prayer Meeting
Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 9:30am
Venue is 1555 Lucasville Road, Hammonds Plains NS
RSVP 902-412-4973