Introduction

Some of us came in today with calendars covered in scribbles and hearts heavy with questions. The clock keeps ticking, but the answer seems late. A prayer hangs in the air. A door stays shut. A dream feels shelved. We know God is good, we sing that God is faithful, yet our watches rarely match His will. Have you felt that ache—the ache of waiting while the world keeps whirling? You are in good company. Scripture speaks to people like us: weary waiters, quiet hopers, everyday saints standing in line at the pharmacy, sitting in the parking lot before a hard conversation, lingering by a crib that’s still empty, staring at a bank balance that has more month than money. If this is you, hear the hope: God is working when our hands cannot see. He is weaving when our eyes cannot trace. He measures moments with mercy.

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes whispers a steady word to fidgety hearts: timing. Seasons. A God who paints in hours and harvests, in mornings and midnights, in welcomes and farewells. He does not waste winters. He does not rush spring. Every season has a sacred script, and even the quiet scenes matter. When the waiting room feels like a wilderness, when the hallway between doors echoes with silence, remember this: your Father is never absent. Heaven’s clock is kind.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “Faith is a refusal to panic.” That fits the soul that wants to bolt for the exit when life slows to a crawl. Faith breathes. Faith blinks back tears and whispers, “My God is here.” Faith does not need the map to start walking. Faith can sit in the slow lane and still sing. That is where Ecclesiastes 3:11 meets us—right at the corner of longing and limitation—inviting us to trust God’s timing in every season, to see His hand in the everyday, and to walk by faith when we cannot fathom His plan.

Think of the small places where God loves to show up: the kitchen counter where you pack lunches; the desk where emails pile like autumn leaves; the hospital hallway with its sterile smell and brave smiles; the nursery rocker that creaks the rhythm of a thousand prayers. These are holy grounds, not haphazard gaps. God’s goodness glides through the mundane like sunlight over a windowsill—quiet, steady, sure.

And there’s this mystery inside you, planted by God Himself—an ache for forever, a homing signal for eternity. You were made to crave more than minutes. You carry a compass that points to the horizon of Heaven, and no earthly clock can satisfy it. So, when you feel the tension between the beautiful and the bewildering, between what you can count and what you can’t comprehend, don’t be surprised. That tug is a gift. It pulls you toward a Person, not a plan; toward a Savior, not a schedule.

Today, as we open the Word, let’s bring our calendars, our questions, and our quiet hopes. Let’s ask the God of seasons to steady our souls and to teach us the sacred art of waiting well—watching for His fingerprints on doorknobs and diagnoses, in paychecks and playgrounds, at gravesides and wedding aisles. He is here. He is kind. He is timely.

Exact Quote: “Faith is a refusal to panic.” — Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:11 (KJV) “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

Opening Prayer: Father, Ancient of Days, You hold our times in Your hands. We confess our hurry and our fear, our clenched fists and restless hearts. Breathe peace into our panic. Teach us to trust Your timing in every season. Open our eyes to see Your hand in the ordinary—at the sink, at the office, in the school line, in the quiet of the night. When we cannot fathom Your plan, fasten our feet to the path of faith. Plant courage in our chests, patience in our bones, and praise on our lips. Lord Jesus, Shepherd of our souls, lead us beside still waters even while the world whirs around us. Let Your presence be our portion today. Holy Spirit, tune our hearts to Heaven’s rhythm. Speak through Your Word. Comfort the waiting, steady the wavering, and strengthen the weary. Make our lives an amen to Your wisdom and love. We yield this hour, our hopes, and our hurts to You. Make everything beautiful in Your time, and make us beautiful in the waiting. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Trust God's timing in every season

Time belongs to God. He does not rush. He does not stall. He arranges days and years with care. When our plans feel slow, He is still steady. When our plans feel fast, He is still steady. His hand holds the pace.

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.” That line tells us God has a when for every what. Beauty here means fit. It means the right thing at the right moment. Think of a field. Seeds are buried and look lost. Months pass. Shoots come. Fruit comes later. The same seed would fail in winter and flourish in spring. Fit matters.

God works like a wise maker. He shapes people over time. He cures hurry in us. He grows love, wisdom, and strength in a slow oven. He glazes our lives through heat and rest. He seasons our words through silence and prayer. In His hands, timing is part of the gift.

So we learn a new pace. We stop stamping our feet at the clock. We choose steady steps. Small obediences. Daily faithfulness. We do the next right thing. We let God decide the moment of bloom. Much peace comes from that. We carry less weight. We breathe.

This truth also guides how we act while we wait. Waiting is not blank. Waiting has work. We water the seed. We pull the weeds. We keep showing up. We seek counsel. We pray for wisdom. We act when God gives light for the step in front of us. We trust Him with the steps we cannot yet see.

“Also he hath set the world in their heart.” The word can mean eternity. God planted forever inside us. This is why time aches. This is why no season on earth fully fills us. A clock cannot hold what our heart wants. We were made for more than the calendar. That desire is holy. It pulls us toward God.

Eternity inside us changes how we wait. We look past the week and even past the year. We measure choices by what lasts. We seek the Kingdom first. We invest in people. We forgive. We serve. We give. We look for the fruit that does not rot. We sing hope even when the room is quiet, because our hope reaches beyond the grave.

Eternity inside us also softens our grip. We can be patient with slow answers. We can be calm with unclear paths. Our finish line is not a date on the schedule. Our finish line is seeing Christ face to face. That takes the sting out of delay. That puts steel in our faith. That makes the long road worth it.

“So that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” We do not see the whole. Only God does. We know a line. He knows the story. We hold a puzzle piece. He holds the picture. This is not a flaw in us. This is a call to trust.

Mystery is a teacher. It teaches us to pray first. It teaches us to ask for daily bread. It teaches us to obey the light we have. It teaches us to leave the rest with the Lord. We do not need full plans to be faithful. We need a faithful God. We have Him.

This mystery also keeps us humble and kind. We do not rush to judge our own life or the life of others. We do not stamp seasons with final labels. We do not call a seed a failure. We wait. We bless. We speak life. We watch for quiet mercies that build over months and years. Many of God’s finest works grow that way.

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” shapes our view of hard days too. Pain is real. Loss is real. Some chapters are dark. Scripture never calls pain pretty. Scripture calls God wise. He weaves even tears into a fabric that will one day shine. He wastes nothing. He can bring comfort, courage, and character through seasons we would never choose. In time, He can even bring fruit from the place that hurt us. Only God can do that.

So we keep our hands open. We bring our plans, our fears, our needs, and our dates to the Lord. We ask Him to write the schedule. We ask Him to make things fit. We ask Him to make us fit for what is coming. We keep in step with His Spirit. We keep pace with His Word. We keep close to His people. And we wait with hope, because His time is always good.

See God's hand in the everyday

Look for the fingerprints of God in ordinary places ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO