| “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” |
| —Romans 5:6-8 |
Have you ever heard someone say, “Timing is everything.” People usually make this statement when something happens at just the right time in their lives. Please allow me to illustrate:
Many years ago, a friend of mine came back from a trip and told his colleagues that he had met the most wonderful woman. The odd part of the story was that they met because she had arrived at the airport just one minute too late to board her scheduled flight. And, he had arrived at the airport several hours early for his flight because his business meeting had ended earlier than he expected and there were no earlier flights. They met in the now-abandoned gate area. She, dealing with the frustration of having missed her flight and he, dealing with several hours to kill before his flight took off.
He noticed she seemed very upset. He asked if he could help her. At first she said, “No, but thank you.” He could see how upset she was so he pressed her a bit. She finally explained what had happened. It turned out that this would have been her very first flight, ever.
He, being a very seasoned and experienced traveler, offered to help her. He opened his laptop and logged into his premium account with the particular airline. Soon, he had re-booked her on a flight that would leave from the gate just across the aisle, and at almost the same time as his flight would leave from the very gate in which they were sitting. Since they had more than two hours before boarding, he offered to treat her to lunch. So, off they went to the little cafe just a few feet away from their respective gates.
And yes, the story has an even happier ending. From those two hours together—and from many subsequent days, weeks, and months of long-distance communication—they became good friends, and then sweethearts, and finally husband and wife. Recently, they celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary. They now have three lovely children and from all appearances are blissfully happy.
Yes, I know it sounds like the plot for a Hallmark Movie Channel story. But, real life is often even more glorious than life on the screen. You see, timing is everything! The Apostle Paul surely understood this when he wrote these words, recorded in Romans 5:6-8:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Timing is everything! For us, it meant salvation through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in our behalf. And, this wonderful salvation came at just the right time.
At the beginning of this new day, let’s be very thankful to God for His mercy, grace, and abundant love for us. And, let’s praise God that His timing is always perfect—a reality we can clearly observe, especially if we look for it every single day of our lives.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, June 22, 2018
