"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 'Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.' "(John 17:1)
I was 21-years-old and in my first ministry as a young married man. I began each day by visiting a hospital and a nursing home. As I was about to leave an elderly patient one day, I extended my hand and asked if we could pray together. She looked a little puzzled, smiled, and said, "Well, I think I'm a little old for games!" She evidently thought that I had asked if we could play together. Well, it wasn't time to play!
As in the reading above, the New International Version of the Bible uses the expression "the time has come" seven times. Each usage speaks of God's unique timing.
In more than four decades of ministry I have learned at least two things: 1) my timing is almost never God's timing, but 2) God's timing is always right.
I usually want Him to act now. He often thinks that I need to wait.
As I look back years later, I am always grateful for His timing. Robert Young was right. Father DOES know best.
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD." (Isaiah 55:8)
• Bruce Henderson is the minister of the Airport Road Church of Christ, Carson City.