Timing Is Everything
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need Hebrews 4:16
In Time Of Need – What’s good about need? When help arrives. Help too soon remains unused and unappreciated. Help too late is wasted effort. But when help shows up at just the right time, oh, how sweet it is! That’s the kind of help I need; the kind that arrives exactly when it is required. And that’s precisely what this verse promises. The Greek word is an adjective, not a prepositional phrase. It doesn’t say, “Help in time of need.” It says, “Timely help.” I go to prayer, boldly exercising the right of free speech before the throne for the express purpose of receiving timely help.
Eukairos literally means, “good season of time.” Kairos is not clock-time. That is chronos (like chronology). Kairos really has no English equivalent. It is opportune time, the season that is just right. It is not the succession of minutes, hours and days, but rather the time that is fitting. In this Greek word, it is the good (eu) opportune time.
Since we are not talking about chronos clock-time, we need to be quite clear about our prayers. We are not asking God to do such-and-such in this hour or minute. We are asking that God provide mercy and help at the right moment, that is, at the moment that He determines to be precisely opportune. After all, the only right time is God-time, not my time. I count by seconds and minutes, but God counts by character and purpose. Whenever God shows up with help, it is exactly the right time.
Most of us, I’m afraid, do not pray this way. We ask for help in our time of need. We set the temporal agenda for God’s intervention. “Lord, I need You right now.” “Lord, just fix this by the end of the day.” “Father, give us help before the bill is due.” That is chronos time praying. It’s not God’s time. God’s time is always kairos time – the just- in- time right moment precisely correct delivery of what God determines is needed. If we were to pray with kairos time in mind, we would immediately discover two important obedience principles. First, we would learn deeper dependence. God hears my pleas, but He answers (and He does answer) when He knows the time is right. In the meanwhile (chronos), we must depend on Him. Secondly, we learn contentment. The fact that God hears and answers is undisputed. But since God answers in kairos time, I must learn to be content in chronos time. By the way, dependence and contentment spell obedience.
Do you pray for God’s timely help? Are you asking Him to provide deliverance at the right moment from His perspective? Or do you pray with an agenda in mind? Do you pray for same-day courier, next-day air, second day-ground or do you pray with expectant contentment that anytime it’s right is alright with me?
