According To God's Timing

"Today's Devotion" For March 8, 2005

Read: Matthew 8:1-4
Leviticus 14:2-32

ACCORDING TO GOD'S TIMING

"...'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. 'I'm willing,' He said. 'Be clean.'"(Mt.8:2-3)

It was by the grace of God that the leper in Matthew's account was close by where Jesus was walking. The leper had not only a difficult life, but he was considered unclean because of his disease. Levitical Law mandated that he had to stay away from people and have no physical contact with anyone except for other lepers. This was God's own direction concerning the treatment of lepers as found in Leviticus 13-14 in order that there wouldn't be risk of infecting others. We might consider this to be a cruel fate, yet quarantining a leper whose flesh was rotting off his bones and who was probably experiencing a good deal of pain was a part of God's care for His people. With all these obstacles facing this man, he nevertheless is in the right place at the right time so that he could catch Jesus walking by.

Trusting in Christ's compassion and love, the leper, by faith, reaches out to Jesus for help and healing. The leper's heart is convinced that Jesus will be compassionate and merciful. By God's grace and mercy, the leper is in the right place at the right time so that, as Jesus passes nearby, the leper can call to His Savior and Lord for mercy and healing. Jesus' response isn't just to heal the leper and answer his prayer. Our gracious Lord also entered the leper's world, risking ceremonial uncleanness because He had touched and healed the leper. For the leper, God's timing was everything.

There's another aspect to God's timing in this account, beyond the leper being in the right place at the right time. As grateful as he was, the leper was instructed by Jesus not to tell anyone about what He had done. For all intents and purposes, from a human perspective, this is an odd command. After all, not only was the man joyful that he had been healed, but telling others about the loving Messiah had to be foremost in his heart and mind. Yet it wasn't yet Jesus' time. In God's plan of salvation, "timing is everything," and Jesus didn't want people to believe in Him just because He healed people and performed miracles. It wasn't yet the Father's time for Jesus to go to the Cross and Jesus' healing of this leper could have sped up the timing of His death before it was the "right time."

Doing things at the right time, according to God's timing, is essential in our service to God and to others according to God's will. As it's sometimes more appropriate to be silent and at other times to shout at the top of your lungs, it's all a matter of "timing." Guided by God's Word and Spirit, our witness as Christian men and women is also subject to God's timing. At one moment He leads us to speak about His love and forgiveness in Jesus, while at other times He leads us to be silent, letting our actions speak louder than words. As we walk with Jesus, guided by the Word and Spirit, we learn to listen for God's right timing that guides our witness and our living as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Father, You provided healing to the leper according to Your timing and purpose. You put him into a position that allowed Jesus to heal his disease, both of body and soul. Help me to trust Your timing in my life as well, knowing that You will provide me with every good and perfect gift from Your hand when it's appropriate. Strengthen my faith so that I may always be certain that You will give me the courage to face whatever comes my way in life, and know that You will see me through every trial and tribulation, in Your time. And, gracious Father, I humbly pray that You would lead me to be open to Your directions as to the right times and places in which to effectively share Jesus' love with others; in Whose precious name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.