In His Time

“The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.
A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” [Isaiah 60:19-22 NKJV]

Barnacles clinging to a rock at Shell Beach, Tarbert, Argyll

There is a time to every purpose under the heaven, said in Ecclesiastes 3:1 and our verse in Isaiah 60 I, The Lord will hasten it in its time, makes it clear that the time for anything is His time, not ours. Indeed, God says we do not understand the time we are in ...

For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. [Eccesiastes 9:12 NKJV]

We may think we see the end from the beginning, but if we act as though that end had already happened, we fall out of step with God. He wants us to be where He has us - now!

We have been told by the politicians that we know this pandemic we are going through will end at some point - possibly in three months, six months, and now probably fourteen months time. The fact is that no one can tell. Viruses do not just go away - they must be eradicated. The Lord seems to be telling us that the pestilence will be overcome, but in His time, not ours. He is teaching us to hear and obey His word, and to draw patience (longsuffering in AKJV) from His Holy Spirit.

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, [2 Peter 3:8-15 NKJV]

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