There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV)
For the past two months, I’ve been working on sequencing in my golf swing. When I’m hitting it best, I’m able to wait just a beat at the top, while my hips turn back to the target.
My arms then fall effortlessly onto the back of the ball. The ball compresses and seems to explode off the clubface in a tight, boring trajectory.
When my timing is off, I can’t seem to wait at the top. My arms and hands arrive at the ball too soon, and I have to manipulate the face through the ball. If I’m playing a lot, I can still hit it decently, but the ball flight is higher and shorter.
When I was younger, practice and athleticism made up for poor timing. Now that I’m older, with less time to practice and diminishing athletic ability, timing is essential if I want to play well. And when my timing is off, golf gets really hard.
The same is true in our relationship to God.
We have a financial problem we want Him to remove, a health problem we want Him to heal, or a friend or family member we want Him to save, and we don’t want to wait. Nobody likes to wait.
I was in Spain recently, and in anticipation of the trip, I read a biography of Christopher Columbus written by his son. Christopher Columbus loved God and believed God called him to open a new route to the Indies for the gospel. But he needed a sponsor with deep pockets.
In 1484, he presented his plans to the king of Portugal but was rejected. In 1486, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain turned him down—they were consumed by a war with the Moors. In 1488, Columbus sent his brother to the king of England, but never received a decision.
With few options left, Columbus turned toward France, but before he could leave, Isabella summoned him. When he appeared before Isabella in April 1492, Spain had just defeated the Moors, freeing up funds from the war effort. You know the rest of the story.
Here’s the point: Columbus was certain of his calling. What he was not certain of—and what we often miss—is the timing.
When Spain, Portugal, and England said “no,” it would have been easy for Columbus to conclude God was saying “no.” But closed doors do not always mean no; sometimes they mean not yet.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it. For it will certainly come, it will not delay. —Habakkuk 2:3
When the timing is off, everything is hard. When the timing is right, it feels effortless.
That’s what I’m after—in my golf swing and my walk with Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, give me discernment to know when You are saying not yet and the patience to wait in faith.