You must be scratching your heads and wondering where is she going with this? I can’t wait to find out as well. He gives the titles and I wait for the dictation. But think about it. I know we’ve all heard the phrase “God is never early, but He’s always right on time” that has never made any sense to me. But hey I’m Jamaican, maybe it’s an American thing. God doesn’t have clocks in heaven, He steps out of time. He speaks what He wants to happen, forecasts when, where and how, and by golly it works like clockwork. No pun intended. His timing is impeccable, but His methodology is unpredictable.
We think He’s late because we’re governed by chronos time. Clocks and calendars determine how we function, The Creator God of the universe doesn’t operate on our schedule. If He’s right on time, then He doesn’t need to be early. His timing is impeccable. For centuries the prophets of old wrote of our coming Messiah. They wrote of things the scriptures say they waited to see, and angels longed to look into. But one thing was certain. “ And it came to pass.” Not early, not late, but right on time.
Moses wrote: “And I will cause hostility between You and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.” Genesis 3:15 NLT
Isaiah wrote: “All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
Isaiah 7:14 NLT
Micah wrote: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a Ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on My behalf.” Micah 5:2 NLT
Hosea wrote: ““When Israel was a child, I loved Him, and I called My Son out of Egypt.” Hosea 11:1 NLT
Zechariah wrote: “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.” Zechariah 9:9 NLT
Hundreds of years later, and may I add right on time we read these words in continuum, without God skipping a beat.
“But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.” Galatians 4:4 NLT
And we read: ““Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
Matthew 1:23 NLT
“The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” Luke 2:11 NLT
“That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, His mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” Matthew 2:14-15 NLT
“Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’ Matthew 21:5 NLT
Timing is everything with God, not time. He’s an on time God. That’s the song I grew up hearing the old saints singing. Then they’d sing, He may not come when “you” want Him but He’s right on time. Truer words have never been sung. We may hit the panic button, but it’s only a test. Waiting will always expose what’s in our hearts. I know. I’ve hit the ‘where are you God?’ button a few times in my life. But I’ve never been disappointed in Him. I’m still here aren’t I? Whatever had gotten me all worked up, thinking the sky was going to fall if He didn’t show up right now! Must not have been that bad because you’re reading what I’m writing, whatever it was didn’t take me out. And He handled whatever it was, right on time. Say amen! Because that’s you too.
In the fullness of time. That’s His clock.
Let’s examine the unpredictable things Jesus did. By unpredictable, I’m not suggesting that Jesus was unstable. He knew exactly what, when, where, why and how He’d do the unimaginable things He did. When the disciples marveled, He’d simply say “have faith in God.” I believe He kept the disciples scratching their heads. They never knew from one minute to the next what He was going to do or say. Everyday must’ve been an adventure. There was never a dull or boring day with Messiah Jesus. The Pharisees and Saducees definitely didn’t know what to do with or about Him. He read their minds and called them out in public in parables. But somehow they’d know He was talking about them. Matthew 21:45. Let’s look at His very first miracle. First He said it wasn’t His business and that the timing was off then, well let’s read it.
“The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told Him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” But His mother told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, He said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed His instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”
John 2:3-10 NLT
Jesus did not touch the pots or wave His hands over them, He simply said “fill them up and dip some out.” 🤦♀️
I know religious folks have been arguing about whether it was grape juice or fermented wine. But people who drink know grape juice from wine. Read the verse again. Jesus made expensive wine. The good stuff. Annd He made one hundred and eighty gallons of the stuff. Now let me be clear, I’m not advocating for wine drinking, just stating the obvious. Moving right along.
“Go into that village over there,” He told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’” Mark 11:2-3 NLT
“The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so He went over to see if He could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard Him say it.”
Mark 11:12-14 NLT
“About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Take courage. I Am here!”
Matthew 14:25-27 NLT
“Then He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”John 9:6-7 NLT
I hope you’re enjoying this message. A day in the life of Jesus is exciting and unpredictable. Has He ever asked you to do or say something you hadn’t planned on? Or did He do something you weren’t expecting? Didn’t that make you go wow! I wasn’t expecting that. The promotion, the mate you thought you’d never meet, the house you thought you’d never own, the ministry opportunity that manifested it seems out of nowhere, the call you needed at that moment, the check in the mail, that child you thought you’d never have after multiple miscarriages, a “chance” encounter, the business opportunity, and the moment He captured your heart. You weren’t planning on attending that Bible study, or visiting that church, or watching that program, but you did and everything changed. He’s unpredictable with impeccable timing. Wouldn’t you agree?
If He’s made you a promise, hold to it. It’s a promissory note with no expiration date. As you can see from the few verses I’ve shared, He never forgets to bring it to pass. He very seldom sets a date with us, but every promise has a fulfillment date. His tomorrow is our today. What I mean by that is, the moment He speaks, it is as good as done. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, He knew it was dried up. The disciples heard Him curse it, but nothing had changed in the natural, well as far as they could see.
“The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!””
Mark 11:20-21 NLT
He still does unpredictable things. He gets to do that. He’s God Almighty! Creator of all things visible and invisible. We see through a glass dimly but soon we’ll see and know as He does.
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT
Go deeper: Psalm 78, 105
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
July 1, 2021