Timing is Everything

 

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”

—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Did you ever have an experience where something absolutely wonderful happened to you and you realized that you were just in the right place at the right time?

In a previous blog post, I shared this story which aptly illustrates the point I wish to make:

When I first matriculated to Houghton College in the fall of 1965, I arrived on campus—like everyone else in my class—as a lowly freshman. While I was very familiar with the College, since it was only 75 minutes away from my home, since I had visited many times over the years, and since I was dating a woman, who was now a junior, and had been for the two previous years, I still had no status whatsoever.

I gravitated to the college radio station, WJSL. In fact, my junior class “Big Brother,” with whom I had corresponded over the summer, was the elected manager of the station. So, when I walked in the door, my reputation as someone who had six years of previous experience in commercial radio had preceded me.

The first person I met was another junior at the college and the only other person on the college radio station staff who had previous commercial radio experience. Needless to say, he and I became friends and eventually did a nightly radio program together called “Music ’til Midnight.” (I am very grateful to say that we remain friends to this day.)

Sitting in the daily Chapel Service—attendance required every Tuesday through Friday at 11:00 a.m.—I began to notice that the John and Charles Wesley Memorial Chapel/Auditorium was having problems with the sound system. All of a sudden, in the middle of the service, the system would go completely dead. The sound control booth was uniquely located in the very front of the auditorium, to the left of, and on a level above, the proscenium-less stage. Through the double glass, I could see people scurrying around inside.

Just as suddenly as the sound went off, it would come back on with a blast of feedback. Naturally, I wondered what was wrong. But, I was a lowly freshman and had no connection with anyone in authority to whom I might offer my services.

A couple of weeks later, I got a message to please see the Assistant Business Manager. I later learned he had gotten my name from the student manager of the campus radio station.

The next day, I went to office of the Assistant Business Manager. He asked if I had experience with sound systems. I described some of the activities on which I had previously worked: the commercial radio station, chief engineer for the local theater company in my hometown, and sound system work for my school and special events. He asked me if I would take a look at the system in the Chapel to see if I could find out what was wrong with it.

So, I arranged to visit that control booth when the auditorium was vacant.

Eventually, as I played some music through the system, it went dead. As I was poking around in the back of the several racks of audio gear, I suddenly stood up and hit my head on a little subassembly that had been attached to the side of the rack. With a blast of sound, the system came back to life.

I examined the subassembly and discovered a potentiometer (volume control) that someone had rigged up to control the level to the main audio feed for the system. It was full of dust. I used my handy spray can of cleaner to remove the dust. And, as if by a miracle, I “fixed” the problem. I later learned the College electricians had spent many hours trying to troubleshoot the problem that I fixed in about twenty minutes.

Was I some kind of genius? Of course not! I was just there at the right time and stumbled onto the cause of a long-standing problem.

You see, timing is everything. As a result, the Assistant Business Manager hired me to serve as Director of Auditorium Operations, a job I held for the rest of my years in college.

In the most minor, and the most significant, events in life, timing is everything.

Thus it is now and thus it has always been. Observe what King Solomon wrote, as he neared the end of his life, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

The question we believers must ask ourselves at the beginning of this new day: “For what is the right time today?” In other words, what experience does God have lined up for us today? In His perfect timing, what wonderful experience awaits us, just around the corner?

If we approach today with a hopeful expectation, God will not disappoint us. He always has our best interest in mind. He will lead us along the pathway He has laid out before us. And, His timing is always perfect.

 

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