ALWAYS RIGHT ON TIME

Another page already touches on the awesome story of Esther, Haman, King Ahaseurus and a case of insomnia perfectely timed. Oh, how I love to dwell on that story! It does me much good to meditate on how complicated and impossible that situation was. Yet, God, not in a hurry, pushed the "Go" button for His rescue plan at the perfect minute. It makes sense. Everything else that God has done has been precise. Think about this: when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son...." He didn't sit back on His throne one day and say, "Maybe this would be a good day for My Son to be born in Bethlehem." God is precise. God is precise. God is precise.

And when we can get a hold on that, worry fades away. Nailing that truth down is the beginning of an effectual prayer life.

So, as I have been reading lately, wouldn't you know it, two passages with which I am well acquainted now blessed me anew because of those very words from Esther that changed my life: "on that night." I won't elaborate on the story of Hezekiah because I do that elsewhere in this journal, but after Hezekiah and Isaiah went up to the temple of the Lord and cried out to Him, shaking in their boots, "on that night" the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 men of the enemy army. A day later, very possibly, would have been too late. Like Esther's situation, things were not looking good, but right on time, God did what needed to be done.

The second passage, another which I love and have read countless times...and been so blessed by...is the story of Peter in prison and the church gathered together to pray for him. In all likelihood, Peter would have been beheaded the next day. Wicked Herod, seeing that the beheading of James had pleased the Jews, decided to, without conscience, repeat the performance. But God...I love those words in the Bible (and Ken did, too!)...did what needed to be done, right on time. "On that night," the book of Acts says, the angel of the Lord appeared to Peter and led him out of prison which, humanly speaking, was not an easy task.

You might argue that this truth did not work for James. I have ceased trying to even meditate on such arguments. God's thoughts and ways are above ours...as high as the heavens are above the earth and the telescopes of today keep revealing that the word "above" is much farther than people thought 100 years ago! Yet, I believe that God loves to work for His children when they are clearly dependent upon Him...and when it will glorify Him.

Working toward a semblance of mastery of the Bible does wonders for a person's faith, for the awareness of the preciseness and perfectness of God seeps down into the heart and the accounts spring to life and mind when faced with life's challenges. I've got some of those hard challenges in my life right now but the other night, as I looked up those passages that had all come together in my mind, I smiled. At the right time, he will open the jail, or send a mighty angel, or give insomnia to just the right person in my story.

I don't understand it all. I do know that God is always right on time.