Timing is Everything

What's true of comedians is also true for the rest of us: timing is everything. Consider:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3

"That yields its fruit in its season." It may not be today, or even tomorrow, that our life is most fruitful. But if we are drawing our nourishment from God's word, the fruitful season will come. We are not called to be like grass or weeds, but like trees.

If you look for it, you'll see this theme throughout Scripture. God fulfilled his great redemptive plan over a long stretch of time and "when the fullness of time had come, sent his Son" (Galatians 4). His Son likewise was never hasty, often to the chagrin of his disciples (for example, see John 11). In fact, Jesus compared the march of the kingdom of God to a mustard seed which, after small beginnings, eventually becomes the largest of all plants - and eventually a tree (Matthew 13).

Should it be any different with God's work in us? It's a great work, and therefore cannot be done hastily. The wise person knows this, and plans accordingly.