Sharon awakened her husband at 3:00 AM and announced that she was having labor pains and that the birth of their child was imminent. Steve responded by suggesting that they pray. Now this wasn't what Sharon expected or needed, she wanted action, not prayer. She needed him to get the car out and drive her posthaste to the emergency room of the hospital. This rather unlikely story is used to illustrate that there is a time for action and a time for prayer. Solomon, in his old age and after having made many mistakes, realized that there is an appropriate time for everything, and when we violate that rule we have problems. He said that there is a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to speak and a time to be silent, a time to lie down and a time to get up (Eccl. 3:1). We all know the embarrassment of laughing at the wrong time, or talking out of turn known as putting one's foot in one's mouth. Sometimes the truth need not be heard if it wounds or alienates.
We see the importance of timing in our everyday lives; there is a time to put on the brakes and a time to step on the gas, a time to eat and a time to sleep, a time to joke and a time to be serious, a time to worship and a time to play, a time for romance and a time for business, a time for preaching and a time for listening.
There are biblical examples of poor timing that led to disaster and regret. Abraham's timing was off when he failed to trust God's timetable and had a son by Hagar, and that has resulted in an age old conflict that still continues. Moses used poor timing when he slew the Egyptian, and as a result spent forty years herding sheep David's ill timed affair with Bathsheba resulted in the murder of her husband and the death of his son. Judas made a big mistake when he tried to force Jesus to become king before His time.
One of the most common causes of poor timing is that of procrastination; we fail to seize the moment (carpe diem) and when that moment passes, it seldom returns. We must be prepared for that opportunity so that we can act. The Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" can apply to many of life's situations. There are important moments of decision that come to everyone, usually unexpectedly, as expressed in the familiar lines:
"Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, For the good or evil side." James Russell Lowell. 1845.
Jesus said that when it comes to the decision to follow Him and to the question of salvation, now is "the acceptable time."
