Can you believe it’s already July? You will most likely hear this question asked, if not by yourself, by one or several other persons. I am writing this in late June, and yesterday I was asked this by two acquaintances. Every year it does seem as if the years travel faster, and the distance between consciousness and our high school graduation multiplies. Lying in bed the other night, I was reminiscing through a couple of moments from my teenage years and couldn’t believe I was actually the one who lived those experiences. It already seems so long ago.

Depending on with whom you talk, time can be labeled either friend or foe. My wife fractured her elbow and found out she has to wear a cast for three weeks. She will probably have a tendency to want to wish the next 21 days away, looking ahead to the day when her right arm doesn’t have to live in a coffin anymore. However, the day after her arm is free, we are going on vacation. When we are on vacation, time will be my wife’s friend once more, as she will try to stretch the days and realize each minute. But time doesn’t slow or accelerate according to our whims or desires; it continues to glide along, ticking without thought of cessation. Rather than altering its progression for us, time’s Maker has chosen to work through and in it to help us discover what lives beyond it.

Reading the Gospels leads the thinker to ask the following question: Why did God send the incarnate Jesus to the earth at that time, at that place, and to that generation of people? For the last six months, I have been going through a textbook I read back when I was studying practical theology. In one chapter, the author discusses Jesus’ earthly life and how His coming was at just the right point in history. Everything from the political system of the day to the roadways of the Roman Empire contributed to the favorable circumstances in which God accomplished His will. There was no better time than that one, no matter how much we think our hedonistic society could use a visitation from the passion of the Christ. (If interested, the name of the textbook is Christianity through the Centuries by Earle E. Cairns.)

The Creator is equally sensitive to the time, circumstances, and relationships in which we breathe. God does not change—He is the same as He was yesterday. He still speaks within and beyond the experience of a fractured elbow, a financial setback, and an unclear future. He is not surprised by where we are and what we are doing. His plans are not jeopardized by the unfairness of life, freak accidents, or what we might label impossible odds. The Father Who inspired Jesus amidst beatings, mocking, and tears of blood is the Father of our time and our inspiration. We would not be allowed in a situation or an experience were we not gifted for it, or were not God sure that we could find Him there. With God being in our days and times, His inspirational resources and provision can equally be found.

Not long ago, I got a traffic citation for something that I didn’t do. It was irritating and unfair, and I brooded about it for quite some time. No matter how much I thought about the situation, I couldn’t rewind time and avoid the circumstance. I was simply the right driver at the right place, but at the wrong time. Or was I? I had been reading a biography of Oswald Chambers’ life earlier in the day and some things he had been quoted for saying kept reverberating in and out of my aggravation. Finally, I came to the conclusion that God wanted to talk to me through this experience and I listened. In faith, I heard God saying that I am too controlling, and when something like this happens to me, I come undone. As He reminded me, life is not promised to be fair or to be what I think it should be. I need to relinquish my worries and simply let my life evolve in Him. His words and message of that moment peeled the surface off of my self-absorbed worry and left a peaceful ripple effect.

This month, in and out of your conversations about the quickness of time, listen and watch for the God of time. He is there with you, and what He says to you may not be what you thought He would say, but what He says will inspire and lead you to believe that there is more to your life and times than you know. Much more than you know. So as we wander through these hot days of July, let’s remember that God can be found in this month in our small moments, and He is working in time – His time.

Copyright Sean K. Mitchell

Sean K. Mitchell is a fundraising consultant and a creative writer. He is also the author of The Financial Pilgrimage, a book that helps Christians embrace a fresh approach to financial decisions and Christian living. For more information on the book or to contact Sean, visit www.seankmitchell.com.