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God's Time

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Aug 22, 1912

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 34.

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God's Time

By Frederick M. Wilcox

THERE is much in doing things in God's time. His time is the time of all others when circumstances combine for successful results. This is illustrated in the experience of Philip and the eunuch. The eunuch was traveling over the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip was away up in the province of Samaria. “The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” Acts 8:26. We do not know that the Spirit even revealed to Philip the purpose of this journey, but the record is, “He arose and went.” He promptly obeyed. The Spirit of the Lord timed the hour of the journey. He knew how fast the eunuch would travel, and how fast Philip would travel. When Philip reached the great highway over which the eunuch was traveling, lo and behold, there before him was the subject of his labor. And the eunuch at that time was reading a prophecy relating to Christ, a scripture from which Philip could easily preach to him the Lord Jesus. This was God's time. Improving it, Philip met the divine purpose, and blessed results followed his obedience to the command of his Lord. Delay on his part might have meant the loss of a soul.
If the Spirit to-day impresses you to work for some soul, recognize it as God's time for such labor. The same Spirit is working upon the heart of the one whom God wishes to use you as his instrument in reaching. He is impressing you to sow the gospel seed. He has gone before you, and is seeking to prepare the soil of the heart for the reception of that seed. Perhaps God has shaped the circumstances in the life of that individual in such a way that he will be ready to receive the labor put forth. Let us watch for souls, and for opportunities in reaching them. Let us seek to follow God's leading providence, and promptly obey his call. F. M. W.