May 12 (Tuesday) -- God's Timing

Don’t offer the burnt offering: 1 Samuel 12:1-13:23

His time had not yet come: John 7:1-30

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations: Psalm 108:1-13

A deceitful tongue crushes the spirit: Proverbs 15:4

In today’s reading from 1st Samuel and today’s reading from John we see the contrast of how both Saul & Jesus respected God’s timing. In 1st Samuel 13:6-14 we read about Saul being in a desperate situation & becoming impatient waiting for Samuel (who as a prophet, represented God). Thus Saul sinned by offering a burnt offering to the Lord, something only the priests were allowed to do.

Yet, in John 7, verses: 6, 8, & 30 we read all about God’s timing for Jesus to be known as the Messiah. Jesus stated in verses 6 & 8 that He wasn’t about to put Himself on stage because His time (as God the Father appointed it) had not yet come.

We all need to have the gumption to serve God’s kingdom to our best. Yet, we can’t let our zeal to serve God cause us to sin by doing things out of line when the timing seems right to us. God’s word & the Holy Spirit always tell us the truth. Even when the timing seems to be a now or never kind of situation, if choosing now requires God’s rules to be broken….choose later.