THE TIMING OF PURPOSE

“To everything there is a SEASON, a TIME for EVERY PURPOSE under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

Fulfilling Destiny demands understanding THE TIMIMG of PURPOSE and the purpose of Time: “To everything there is a SEASON, a TIME for EVERY PURPOSE under heaven” (Ecc.3:1). Time is the River of Life. Time gives order and schedule to our days. But schedules in and of themselves are useless unless they back a purpose. It is worthless to keep track of time if there is no end toward which we are moving. Life without Purpose is time without meaning! Time is measured in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, and decades.

The time at which something happens is significant. What may be helpful and right at one time is wrong at another. This truth is relevant in all aspects of life; hence, birth, growth, aging, and death are part of the vocabulary of Time. For example, there is a Time to be born: A full-term child is usually given to the mother only minutes after birth, but a premature child is whisked to the neonatal nursery and placed in an incubator, hooked to a respirator and a heart monitor. That’s the difference that Time makes!

Many human conversations center around Time: How old are you? When were you married? When did you move to this neighbourhood? How long have you worked at this job? How soon will you finish this assignment? Such questions, however, are seldom God’s questions. He is least interested in how old we are or how many years we have performed a particular job. In fact, God may be displeased by the time it has taken us to complete a particular task or learn a new truth. What’s vital is how we fulfil Purpose in Time.

The God of Purpose defines Time from the perspective of Eternity: “He has made everything beautiful [appropriate] in its time. Also He has put eternity in their heart” (v.11a). Time is the duration of the present life as distinct from the life to come (1Tim.4:8). The minute something drops into this realm of the physical, material world, it picks up time. When it leaves, time is canceled. Eternity is duration without measure. Time is a temporary interruption in eternity. Time starts when we are born and ends when we die. It is a brief part of our existence. 

God is eternal. He exists outside time. He is not against time. He created time; hence it is good (Gen.1:31). From outside time, God works with us who are in time. He sees the end from the beginning, and sets our course in accordance with His overall purpose, not our immediate needs. His timing is always the best because He sees our whole lives and how they fit into His entire purpose for ourselves and others. Even when He seems to come late, it is the right time! May God grant us profitable understanding of Time in the Light of Eternal Purpose!