If I am being totally transparent, I struggle to accept God’s timing in my life. And I don’t think I’m alone on this one. We all have a mental agenda for our lives of when we want different events to happen and if your life is anything like mine, things never go as planned. But that’s okay. In Ecclesiastes 3, the Preacher writes about God’s perfect timing:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die,

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time for war, and a time for peace…

He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

When I think about God’s timing in my own life I immediately think of last year when I failed earth science. It was hard to accept that I had just failed a college class for the first time, but little did I know God had a purpose in my failure. I took earth science again this past fall and in my class God placed someone who is now a dear friend of mine (Jess I’m lookin’ at you). God and His perfect timing gave me a friend when I really needed one. Even in a season of experiencing failure, I also got to enjoy the season of new friendship.

When I read the line “a time to be born, and a time to die” I think about this past week. I think about how my birthday was a time to celebrate 21 years of life and a couple days later, when my sweet grandmother went to be with Jesus it was a time to mourn. We may never fully understand God’s timing in our lives but we can remember God makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).