The fullness of time

They say that timing is key. We have heard many stories that reflect our understanding of what perfect timing truly means; however, many times, we struggle to put this concept of timing in the perspective of God’s time. The Philippines has brought home Olympic medals and certainly, we are filled with pride as every triumph, after all, is a reflection of the Filipino fighting spirit. But what happens when one is unable to bring home the gold but has fought just as hard as the rest? How does one treat a loss and turn it into a potential victory?

It is therefore in this part of life that we ought to pause and ponder about God’s perfect timing. At most, this has been my reflection. Let’s face it; we go through many difficulties in our lives and in those days, many of us have questioned God but eventually, somewhere along that troublesome journey and together with an open heart, we begin to understand the purpose.

In my life alone, I must admit that I too have questioned God, only for me to, in the end, understand the direction. In time I have learned deeply about the seasons of life and to trust in God’s timing. Truth be told, I continue to learn everyday and no matter how clear your goals in life may be to you, it is crucial that each one of us develops within ourselves the understanding that some plans happen at God’s appointed time, while other plans require a maturing of time. Imagine that… a maturing of time… the waiting in patience… this simply requires all of us to surrender as we persevere in faith.

Our athletes in the ongoing Olympics have brought home one valuable thing and that is their story of surrender. Stories on our athletes have proven to us how powerful our God is and keeping the faith against all odds where one can easily just throw in the flag is necessary. Easy to say, hard to do. Believe me, I know. The real victory when it comes to life is witnessing in plain sight how God restores everything in His perfect time and season.

There have been many days in our lives when we ask God why our time is taking too long while failing to understand that change is a process. Making the most of our time teaches us to use our season of waiting by putting our patience into practice and building on our endurance. We all have our hopes and dreams but we must also understand that God does not always allow us to see the exact timing in the fulfillment of His plans for our lives. Uncertainty can many times cause us to be heavily discouraged, which is why our prayers should be aligned to the will of God, matched with a grateful heart. In the end, we only waste a lot of time wondering about God’s timing when we ought to trust instead in His promises and living daily with joy. The tendency of man is to lean on himself instead of leaning on God.

To everything, as the Bible says, there is a season and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven and, if today we find ourselves in planting season, we should never be envious of those who are enjoying their season of harvest. Your time will come and seedtime is a very important event in our lives, but it requires us to completely surrender to the process. God’s timing is often a mystery but believing in it brings rest. God only wants each of us to be on the cutting edge of His promises and while we wait, we need to prepare, to build, to sort, to be gracious under pressure, to be giving even when there is so little to give, to connect even when distance has been much easier, to reflect so we stay humble and perhaps, to even make amends so the blessings can come.

Waiting is part of life but as we wait, we must also remember that God’s promises will ultimately be fulfilled. Keep your hopes up, they always say, and it is the simplest way of assuring us that God’s got our backs and that no matter the difficulty in a season, through constant prayer and hope, we can be rest assured that God’s plans are always good and, in the fullness of time, we will enjoy the fruits of our harvest.