THURSDAY 4 AUGUST - TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Nehemiah 2:1 NLT

Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence.

Read Nehemiah 2:1-10. What does your life look like today? What needs to stay the same? What needs to change? And most importantly, how do you take God’s timing into account?

Timing is everything. If you mistime kicking a football, you’ll miss or slice your kick away from where you were aiming. If you mistime investment in the stock market, you can lose a lot of money. If you play and instrument or sing, you’ll know the chaos that ensues if you don’t keep time with the rest of your band or choir.

Nehemiah couldn’t create the right circumstances so he could act in rebuilding and repairing Jerusalem’s walls. Only God could do that. Over the four months he waited for God’s word, he must have seen plenty of times when it looked like the right time to act. But he had to let them go.

Learning to do the right thing at the right time takes wisdom and discernment. As you grow as a follower of Jesus, the better you get at discerning when God is ready for you to act.

So how is your timing? Are you in tune with God? Or do you need to slow down and wait on God?

THINK IT OVER

Think about the following:

When has your timing been right? And when has it been wrong? Can you see any difference in the way you related to God at the time?