RIGHT ON TIME

1 Chronicles 29:11 (NLT) “ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.

Coincidence: [noun] “the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection.” (Merriam-Webster Online)

I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that everything happens exactly at the right time, exactly as per God’s plans.

Back in the 80’s, I had 1974 Oldsmobile Omega “S”. With a bit of wrenching and a few adornments such as shiny exhaust pipes, mag-wheels, and a metallic or metal-flake paint job (it was painted this awful pea-soup green color), it would have looked like the muscle car that it really was. She had a powerful engine under the hood, a 350 Olds “Rocket” with a 4-barrel-carb. When you punched the gas, your head got knocked back just a tad as the 3-speed automatic transmission shifted from first into second, right around 50 mph. The posy-rear was a big help in the snow. My brother and a few of his “mechanic” friends kept her in good running order so repairs were usually quite affordable. After a few years, “little things” quit working. Wiring issues developed, such as the dome light and the speedometer. Somehow I managed to avoid the many speeding tickets I deserved. The gas gauge also stopped working. However, the time the car conked-out in front of the gas station was due to my own foolishness; the gauge was still functioning. She was a fun, fast car; we traveled through many years and miles together. Alas, body rust, numerous broken “little things” and a new SUV in my driveway prompted me to give her away.

The other morning as I scraped the snow from my windshield, I had a memory of my dear old Olds. I was driving east bound on the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) into Philadelphia one morning. The road was wet from melting snow and the vehicles in front of me and the ones going in the opposite direction splattered the muck onto the windshield. I didn’t think of filling my washer fluid reservoir before I left; hence, half way into the city, it was empty. Sun glare combined with the dirty, salty overspray made for a very dangerous situation. I was terrified because I could no longer see what was in front of me. I seriously considered hanging my head out of the side window. Suddenly, on the other side of the guide-rail, a tractor-trailer plowed through a huge puddle. I was right in front of it, my car was rinsed-off and the windshield was cleared! As I remember, from that point on, the road was drier and overspray was minimal.

Was that a coincidence? I don’t think so. It was too perfect. I made it through the worst part of the trip. The cleansing came at just the right time. Had I encountered the shower a few miles back, it would have been wasted; the windshield would have gotten dirty very quickly and I’d have been back to square one. This all happened just at the right time. God got the most glory and I got the most benefit.

Was it a coincidence that the snake was there in the garden with Eve as she eyed-up the apple; or, that Pharaoh’s daughter was at the river in the exact place where Moses’ mother left him in the basket? How did the two spies know to go to Rahab’s house to spend the night? How could the vibrations of marching feet and the sounds of rams’ horns possibly cause such a great wall to collapse? Was it by chance that Boaz discovered Ruth in the field that day? Again, all these things happened just at the right time. God gets the most glory and we get the most benefit.

I have witnessed many things that can only be explained as God’s work coming just at the right time. My new job--a long-time employee retiring shortly after I started volunteering left an opening for me. A gift from a loved one came during a time of great need; someone arriving at the exact moment when I needed her. It was a last-minute decision to attend the church service that evening when I was so moved by the ceremony that I could not leave before I surrendered to God; and the day I talked to the pastor about baptism just happened to be the day before the pastors’ meeting and everything came together very quickly rather than having to wait six or even eight weeks. Not one of these events was a coincidence. All are examples of God at work. Blessings coming just at the right time.

Scriptures

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (CEV) “God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future.”

Romans 8:28 (NLT) “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”