¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

Another formula that any reader of Genesis 1 will not miss is the distinct “And there was evening, and there was morning…” pattern. Many theologians use this to argue that creation happened in six 24 hour periods. I am not going into that debate. Instead I ask this question, “What did this night-day pattern mean to the Israelite of Moses’ time?”

Israelite had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. For 400 years they must have cried out many times “God save us NOW!” – with special emphasis on the “now” part. And God had heard their cry (Exodus 3:7). But God not only had his plan, but he also had his timing. His timing was already announced to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16. God waited as an act of mercy to the Amorites.

Even in the creation of the heavens and the earth, arguably God’s biggest project, God was not rushed. There were evenings at every day of creation, when God apparently was not active.God makes everything beautiful in His time.

God is eternal, he has complete control over time. When we read the Bible, how can we discern whether a biblical event is an act of God? We discern by looking at prophecies. Only God can have control over time and history to fulfill His prophecies.

What is idolatry? Idolatry is letting something else take the place of God. Expedience is our Idol. God’s timing flies in the face of our “instant-everything” world. Our motto in business is ASAP. The deadline for your project is always “yesterday”. My second grade daughter is learning fourth grade math.

Sooner or later our children will become mature responsible adults. Sooner or later the harvest will be ready. Sooner or later your project will be done. Beautiful things are worth waiting for. God is worth waiting for. There will be morning – He promised.