WHERE IS YOUR TIME?

MEMORY VERSE: My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Psalm 31:15

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 25-27

There are three basic types of time: natural time, human time and God’s time. Naturally, all over the world, midnight marks the beginning and ending of each day. In other words, a day starts at 12am. With the human time it’s different and it varies with individuals. For some, their day starts at 5am; others start before 5am or after 5am. However, God’s day start in the evening. Genesis 1:5 says, “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” The same thing for the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh day.

Going by nature or natural time, a child becomes an adult when he is 18 years (age of consent). From this age, he is free to make his decisions. If he commits a crime, hopefully he doesn’t, he would be sent to prison. Humans, depending on culture and religious beliefs, put the age of maturity at different times. In some cultures, it is believed that once a girl enters puberty she can now be treated as an adult; some even become brides at that age. In some cultures, not until a man is 30 he is not regarded as an adult. According to scriptures, a child becomes an adult around the age of 20 (Leviticus 27:1-7). When it comes to serving God, there is natural time to serve God and that is the age of consent. The human time to serve God is when one is old - probably around 65 years. Between the age of 17 and the age of retirement is a time to concentrate on one’s career and enjoy life. This is why when people see a young brother actively serving in church and serving God with vigour, they say he is not ambitious. This is why when they see a young woman dressed modestly, no parts of her body exposed; they say it is too early to dress in that fashion. The expectation is that one should dress hot and sexy whilst one is young. Going by God’s time, no one is too young to serve God. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.”

Going by nature, the time to get married is four years after a child enters puberty and this is around the age of 18. The human time for an individual to get married varies. The general consensus is once a man has a job and a house, he can consider marriage. However, God’s time for each individual to get married is different. There are instances where God may decide not to give a brother a wife until He trains him for his future and the training may not end until he is 30 years. In a nutshell, there are things nature expects one to have at certain times. Also, there are things humans expect one to have at certain times. When one does not have those things at the expected time, one may be regarded as a failure. The expectation is after 10 years in ministry, one's congregation should have grown to a certain number. One should be doing this and that. However, God does not work like this. He may decide to give one something before the human time or after the human time. Samuel started hearing God's voice from a tender age. Moses did not start his ministry until the age of 80. I want to encourage you to put your time in God’s hands. Let Him give you what He wants to give to you in His own time.

NOTE: A lot has destroyed their lives because they received certain good things at the wrong time.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, help me to be more patient.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world