”Trust God’s timing”- Romans 5:1-8.

Friends, God can be doing 10,000 things in your life, and you will only know of 3 of them. His timing is never wrong! Have a great day! 

Transcript

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Well everybody please stand. Yeah, I'm about to get it. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so that we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame. Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. You see, just at the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for your ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we are still sinners, Christ died for us. Yes, sir. Thank God for the people of God.

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Thanks be to God. Amen. You may receive it.

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And now, Lord, may the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart, be fully acceptable, graceful, and worthy in your sight. For you are and forever shall be our strength and our redeemer. Amen. So today I want to talk about recognizing and trusting God's timing. The Bible talks about God's timing as purposeful and always at the exact moment he wants something to happen. Psalm 18 tells us that as for God, his way is perfect. The Lord's word is flawless, and he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord and who is the rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. That is Psalm 18, verses 30 through 32. Our text today that Brian just read said, We glory in our tribulations at the right time. Christ died for the ungodly. This idea of God moving on his time, even in tribulation, even in moments that aren't comfortable for us, it is not foreign to us as a people. Listen to this amazing story. Each year on February 10th, on the island of Malta, one of the country's biggest religious and national holidays is celebrated. One of the biggest holidays on the island is celebrated. Street decorations and a fiesta atmosphere is up with flags, lights, banners, crowded public squares. Everybody comes to celebrate this event. Look at all that. People are there to celebrate. Fireworks are going off. Family gatherings and public celebrations go on. Since it's a national public holiday, many businesses and schools close for this event in Malta. Some businesses close for the week. They shut business down and say, we'll see you next week. We're going to go celebrate this national holiday. What is it? What is the event, this holiday that the whole island shuts down for? This holiday celebrates the shipwreck of St. Paul. They celebrate it. The shipwreck of Saint Paul. This celebration commemorates the account in the book of Acts, chapter 27 and verse 28. Both chapters tell the story of Paul the Apostle. God told Paul, just as a refresher, what did God tell Paul? He said, Hey Paul, you don't have a choice. You're going to Rome. And you're going to go preach at Caesar. Acts 23, 11 literally says, Take courage, if you have testified about me, Paul, in Jerusalem, now I am sending you to testify in Rome. Acts 23, verse 11. This dream from God came to fruition when Paul was ordered by Agrippa to send Paul to Rome on a prisoner ship. And what looks like to us a bad thing, Paul had to have been saying, Great, I'm living out my calling. I'm getting on the ship, I'm doing exactly what God has called me to do. No obstacles, no storms. The clarity and the provision is clear. Yet, as life happens, a storm does take place. In the book of Acts, chapter 27, a storm moves in on Paul's boat. If Paul is like most of us, storms on the sea would have us pretty upside. Here we are, or here Paul is, on the way to fulfilling God's call to go to Rome. Then something bad happens. We didn't see it coming. We didn't want it to happen. God has called Paul to go to Rome, and now he's sending a storm in which all might lose their life. Is that you today? Before I keep going? Are you trying to follow God's plan, loving your community, loving your family, loving your relationships around you, but then something bad happened to disrupt that? Is that you? It certainly was Paul. Paul surely feels like he can't fulfill his calling by God. Yet, behold the timing of the Lord. Right? Listen to this. The Lord knew Paul was afraid. He knew he might not fulfill his call. So the Lord visits Paul in Acts 27 and says, Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. You must stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all who assail with you. Acts 27, verse 24. In other words, you're still going to fulfill your calling. Just not the way you want to take to get there. You're still going to do what I've told you to do, just not the way that you want to go to get there. Paul informs everyone on board in the book of Acts that the storm will not kill everyone. Paul and the crew will survive. What's the way God sends Paul on the way to Rome? A shipwreck on Malta. 500 miles south of Rome. He doesn't get there in one straight line where everything's just rosy, right? He goes 500 miles south, they shipwreck on the island of Malta, 500 miles off course. While on Malta, Act says that Paul was bitten by a snake, but unharmed. He healed many sick people, but the timing seems off, right? God is sending Paul to Rome. Why did he do a detour to Malta? What's going on there? Why did he send Paul? Why did Paul shipwreck on Malta instead of going straight to Rome? You see, Maltese Christians view Paul healing many people on the island as the beginning of Christianity on the island of Malta. The population is 530,000 people. 85% of the nation. And they trace their faith lineage back to the Apostle Paul. Solemn masses and church services take place throughout the day, celebrating this moment. A procession of the Statue of St. Paul goes through Valletta streets, that is the capital city, accompanied by marching bands, cheering crowds, banners, and confetti. As you saw in the picture earlier, fireworks on display everywhere. It is a celebration, right, that this detour happened. That Paul shipwrecked on the island. Now, why? Why have a celebration that celebrates God's timing being off? Why celebrate a shipwreck, a snake bite, and a detour from what Paul was called to do? The citizens of Malta understood something. They understood something. What did they understand? God can use what looks like terrible timing. He can change it for his glory, can't he? 500 miles off course, not the right I would have chosen. God chose it. And through that, the Isle of Malta is almost entirely Christian. And they celebrated because of his shipwreck. They knew that God could take something that looks like terrible timing and use it for his glory. I heard one pastor say, put it this way, he said, God can be doing 10,000 things, and you're aware of three of them. Friends, remember Malta. And the 10,000 things God has doing in your life when you think God's timing is wrong. So let's talk about it today. Let's talk about recognizing God's timing and why we can trust when he chooses to act. Keep Malta in the back of your mind as you hear this today. Number one, God moves when we no longer can do anything for our life except trust in him. What did Brian read? You see, at the right time, listen to this word. When we were still powerless, Christ died for being godly. Commentators have debated this for a long time. Why did Jesus come when he did? Why didn't Jesus come before the flood? Just prevent the flood and then everybody gets saved, and you don't have to kill the whole earth, right? Except for Noah's family. Why didn't Jesus heal Lazarus in John 11, but he didn't heal his cousin John, who was beheaded by Herod? Why didn't Jesus come in the time of the prophets? Why do you need Isaiah? Why do you need the prophets coming and prophesying of the Messiah who is coming? Why didn't he come then? Is it a lack of faith? Is it what do the Calvinists call it? Predestination, right? We'll destin one person but not the other for God's timing. Friends, God's timing is not a matter of how or who. God's timing is a matter of when and why. His timing is not a matter of how or who. It is a matter of when and why. Paul writes in Galatians 4 4, in the fullness of time, God sent his son born of a woman. We know why Jesus was sent. We just read the text. He was sent to die for sinners, right? And raised from the dead on their behalf. But here's the thing: through means including obedience to the Torah, temple activity, and even isolation, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, the three political parties of Israel in the time. They all longed for one thing: the restoration of God's people. They wanted Israel to be redeemed. The zealots focused on an armed revolt to bring liberation to Israel. What Paul says, while we were still powerless, this is what he is saying. He is saying that none of those groups could bring about restoration. Bad news, you can't either. I can't. Some of the best doctors and physicians in the world, they cannot bring about restoration either. All are powerless. Only Jesus on the cross can do what we dream of doing. Amen. Only Him. We are powerless when we can't do anything except trust in Christ. That is how God's timing works. Friends, this is a striking thought. The solution to the restoration of God's people did not come from the people who worried most about it. Catch that? The Sadducees, the Essenes, all the political parties of Israel, they worried about this every single day. The solution didn't come from them. The solution only came from Jesus, who could restore sinners at a time of his choosing on the cross. I don't know why he chose to come in 83. I do know he chose that time to come. Like I told the kids a minute ago. I don't know why their birthday is on that day. God does. And he chose it. We worry and we call it human. And while there is a place for worrying, there's also a place for saying you can do nothing else except trust Jesus. And trust that his plans and his purposes will work out. You see this kind of powerlessness in relationships all the time. In my own life, I saw a lot before I dated beanna. I lived with two brothers growing up. One of them, my brother Chris, he got married early, 17 years old. Got married to his wife, Candace, and praise God, they have made it. Several kids. He's a pastor at Enterprise, Alabama. He's doing a good job. But he was in love early. He and his wife, they just loved each other, so they took off quickly. My twin brother Paul got engaged. Check this out. Please don't do this. Parents with your kids, please pray over this if it gets to this age. Paul got engaged the senior year of high school. Got married the following year in 2001. What was Pastor John doing? Well, I dated here and there. But I remember looking at what they were doing, and I would ask questions of God. These questions, let me be clear, they didn't affect my faith. It's okay to ask God questions and still be a believer. Amen. They didn't affect my faith, but I would ask questions because that's how I felt. Why didn't I meet Rihanna while Paul and Chris were getting married? I had to go through job breakups, I had to go through relationship breakups. Why did I have to go through all that? While Paul and Chris got married early, went off to live happy lives. Here I was living in mom and dad's house. I love my parents, but that's how I felt. Why didn't I meet Rihanna when they got married? Friends, it's real simple. I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready. I was not ready for a relationship. I needed to learn how to fail. I needed to learn that when I saw blessing in someone else's life, to be happy about it. To be grateful that God is moving in Paul's life and Chris's life and the lives of other people, I needed to realize what I wished for the most. I was powerless to live life by myself. Couldn't do it. Yeah, I worked. Yeah, I loved the mom and dad. But until when I could do nothing else to be where I wanted to be besides trust Jesus, transhear me clearly. That's when God began to move. Literally. I remember working in United in 2003, and this long-haired little woman was working in Medele. I said, Is that Monica? And they said, No, that's somebody else. She moved from East Texas. Brianna moved to Lubbock. She got a job at United. My future wife was literally working next to me, and I had no idea at the time. 10,000 things? Try a million. God was doing so much in that moment. He was doing so much in my life, and I didn't even know it. He was setting at the moment that I would move, adopt Evan, get married to Rihanna, have a loving daughter in Brooklyn. Pursue two columns. One in teaching and coaching, and now in the ministry. No way could I have seen that coming over 23 years ago. But that's how he works. See? He works when we can do nothing else besides trust him. His timing always happens. When we no longer can do anything for our life except trust Jesus. Number two, God's timing can be trusted. Listen to this word, Romans 4.25. Jesus was delivered over to the cross for our sins and was raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ at the right time. While we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrated his own love for us. And while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Friends, this text, write down Romans 4.25 to Romans 5.8. It is one of the most important passages in the Bible. And I offer two invitations to consider with it. First invitation is this remember, because of Jesus, God's timing is never wrong. Because of Jesus, God's timing is never wrong. God does not look at your situation. He doesn't look at your marriage. He doesn't look at your church. He doesn't look at your family and say, whoop, I hope I can make this work. He doesn't allow something to happen like Malta and say, boy, I sure hope that shipwreck works in my favor. God's timing is never wrong. Jesus came, therefore we have peace at exactly the right time. God wanted us to have it. Don't get me wrong. We can wonder about his timing. That's okay. Questions are okay. Like I shared with you about my story of the Anna in a minute ago. It's okay to wonder about his timing, but because of Jesus, God's timing is never wrong. Like I told the kids, their birthday happened exactly when he wanted it. Right? The Apostle Peter learned that God's timing is never wrong in his discipleship of Jesus. In Jesus' final hours, when he was asked three times if he knew Jesus, Peter denied ever knowing him. One of the worst moments of his life, he responded to his guilt by going back to his old life and fishing in John 21. He knew he messed up. He knew he was wrong. So he said, the least I can do is go back and fish and help others because of my sin and my betrayal. But friends, as always, Jesus has the final word. He shows up in John 21. Peter and the disciples are fishing. And when Jesus says, Cast your net on the other side and see what you catch, Peter pulls out all the fish and says, It's the Lord. And he jumps in and he goes to Jesus. Jesus reinstates him. And it was that experience that calls Peter to be inspired by the Holy Spirit later. And write this: 1 Peter 5, 6. Humble yourselves under the hand of God. Humble yourselves under the hand of God. And he will lift you up in due time. It's that magic word again. It's all in his time. Number two, I invite you to remember when God's timing in your own life happened exactly when you needed him to act. This is not just my suggestion. This is a praise in the Psalms. I remembered you, God, and I groaned, Psalm 77. I meditated and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing. I was too troubled to speak. But then I thought, to this I will remember the years when the Most High stretched out his hand, and I will remember the deeds of the Lord. The psalmist realized. God's acted before. He's been faithful before. So as I wait on his timing to move, I will remember that God has acted in my life and he will again. Friends, we need help remembering that. I need help remembering that. Why does God get timing right and he's never wrong? But now we think he isn't moving fast enough. Or he moves at the wrong time for us. I read a story in a book on prayer from a guy named Harold, and it kind of answers this question a little bit. He often wondered if God wasn't moving fast enough to help him or wasn't moving at all. But one day he realized God had helped him. Exactly when he needed it. I realized my body chemistry changes when I consistently give my wants, my worries, and my concerns to Jesus. He called each day a treasure hunt, looking for signs of God's presence as he waited on God's action for his specific prayers. This treasure hunt didn't make God move faster or fill the world with less problems. It did encourage him to keep fighting. Keep living. He will move on his time. That can always be trusted. What are you waiting on? Where are you waiting on God to move? Hear our Lord's promise as we wait on his timing. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to you through his spirit who dwells in you. Don't give up waiting. God will move. The same spirit who rose Christ will give life to you too. Friends, in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.