Right Place, Right Time
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Beloved, never forget that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.... but time and chance happen to them all.” God wants you to have the right timing—His timing, and nothing is left to chance because you are God’s child. Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” You are that “good man” because you are the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
Now, look at the word “happen.” In the original Hebrew text, it is the word qarah, which means “to encounter, to meet (without pre-arrangement), to chance to be present.” In a nutshell, it means “right happening.” My friend, you can depend on God to cause you to be at the right place at the right time, to have right happenings happen in your life! I am sure that you would agree that being at the right place at the right time is a tremendous blessing. You certainly don’t want to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That can lead to disastrous results.
In 2003, a brother from my church was in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a business trip. He was staying at the Marriott Hotel and he was in the lobby when a bomb went off just outside the hotel. The bomb tore through the lobby and he saw a body flying past him as the deafening blast reverberated all around him.
After the dust had settled, he found blood spattered on him and debris strewn all around, but amazingly, he was completely unhurt. At the very moment when the bomb exploded, he happened to walk behind a pillar and it protected him from the impact of the blast. Just think what would have happened to him if he had reached that pillar just a few seconds before or after the bomb went off!
No matter how intelligent you are, how fat your savings account is or how prestigious your family name may be, there is no way you can know beforehand when to position yourself behind a pillar just as a bomb that you are unaware of explodes near you. Only God can put you at the right place at the right time. It was the Lord who placed this brother behind the pillar at the precise moment. His steps were literally ordered by the Lord. All glory to Him! Jesus is our true pillar of protection!
My friend, nothing happens by chance—the Lord knows how to place you at the right place and the right time! You can depend on Jesus for right happenings. They all come by His unmerited favor. In the new covenant of grace, the Bible says that the Lord Himself writes His laws on your heart (see Hebrews 8:10). He can speak to you and guide you in everything that you do. Allow Him to lead you supernaturally!