• From our pastor...
• Tim McCaffrey
• ---------------
• tim@monticellobaptist.org

God's Timing

Immediately the disease left him, and he was healed.
Then He sternly warned him and sent him away at once, telling him,
"See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the
priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a
testimony to them."  Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely
and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer
enter a town openly.  But He was out in deserted places, and they
would come to Him from everywhere.
Mark 1:42-45 (HCSB)

Have you ever had a problem keeping a secret?  Especially if that secret involves good news.

There is a timing that is ideal for releasing information or moving forward with a project.  Jesus understood the importance of timing.  When He performed His first healing miracle He instructed the man he healed with leprosy to not tell anyone.  Now that would be difficult - not to share being healed from leprosy with your friends who have known you and your condition.  He could not keep the secret.

As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.  Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.  Jesus desired to do more things in that city, but because the man could not keep quiet, He could not do so.

How often has Jesus not been able to move in your situation because you have failed to honor the right timing of the situation?  Perhaps you have moved ahead when you were not supposed to move.  In the Old Testament, David was fighting the Philistines.  He won the first battle, but they were coming against him again.  He inquired of God and God said, "Go to battle, but not until you hear the marching in the balsam trees." ( 2 Sam. 5:23 )  There was a strategic timing associated with his actions.

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1

In His Service,

Tim