When the time is right, I, the Lord, will make it happen (Isaiah 60:22)

Can I tell you a story?

When I was about eight years old, my dad took my older brother, Henry Jr. (or as we called him, Hanky), and I out to a target range. My dad was the President of the “Dune Archers Club” in Holtville, CA, and was going to be participating in a huge bow and arrow archery meet. This competition of professional archers from the Imperial Valley (where we lived) and San Diego, were coming to gain the title of “Best Archer in Southern California.” The range was located in a hot, rugged terrain of sand dunes, huge sagebrush, and venomous desert creatures.

Arriving at the target range that day, my dad said we could go play for about an hour and then we’d meet back by the truck before the sun went down…a great clock when you don’t have a watch. So off we went playing hide-n-seek in and throughout the sand dunes and sagebrush that ornamented the dunes. Hanky ran off to hide while I counted, trying hard to keep my eyes closed. “18, 19, 20…I’m gonna find you!” I shouted as I ran about searching for him. I remember thinking, he must have found a great hiding spot because he was nowhere in sight. Giving up, I yelled out to him, “Hanky, Hanky, where are you?” But I received no response! I then began shouting, “Come on. I give up. Where are you?!!”

My searching was relentless with no success. A little boy’s fear came over me. Maybe he fell down one of the big sand dunes? Was he hurt? Did he break his leg? Was he already back at the truck waiting? What if I get lost? All kinds of thoughts ran through my little mind and fear began to overwhelm me.

Suddenly, as I reached the top of a large sand dune I looked down and I saw my brother at the bottom of the dune. He wasn’t talking – he seemed paralyzed – almost like a statue. But what caught my attention was his face. It was red and swollen from crying. As he slowly gazed up at me, he said in a strained and fearful voice, “Go get dad. Bring him here. Run!” It made sense to me. Hanky was doing exactly what dad taught us if we ever came upon a rattlesnake. Freeze! Don’t Move! Stand Still!

My fear drove me on feet like the wind. But where was my dad? If I don’t find him Hanky is going to be bitten and he’s going to die. Off in the distance I saw my dad getting ready to shoot at a target. Screaming, I ran toward him, “Quick dad, rattlesnake!”

My dad took off running with me and when we came to the top of the dune we heard a young boy weeping and in the same position I last saw him – frozen! At the bottom of the dune, about 25 feet away, was the biggest coiled up diamondback rattlesnake I’d ever seen – only a couple feet away from my brother. Its rattlers were making the loud and familiar sound. My dad said to me, “Stand back!” He then said, “Son, don’t move.” Dad’s voice was firm as he said, “I’m going to count to three, and when I do, you run.” I was shaking and so fearful. What if my dad missed the rattlesnake? What if it got my brother? What if he dies out here?

I’ll never forget what happened next. Looking up at my dad, I watched him set the arrow on his bow and pull the bow string as far back as he could. Time seemed to move in slow motion, so surreal, as dad held that arrow and bow string with such deep concentration like he’d never let it go. And then, in the tenseness of the moment, he yelled out, “One…two…!” and to my astonishment, my dad released the arrow, never saying, “three.”

That arrow struck with such powerful force and precision, pinning the rattlesnake in the sand just behind the head. Like lightning, my brother instantly ran screaming, jumping in the air, and was out of sight within seconds. That evening before the sun set, dad stretched out the diamondback and it measured near six feet long. Dad cut off the rattlers as his prize and wrote in the sand, “Killed by Henry Lozano Sr.”

The following day at the meet, dad became the “Best Archer” around as everyone got to see the size of the diamondback and hear the story of how he saved my brother’s life. Dad was our hero!

You see, my dad knew his timing had to be perfect. “One” was too soon, “three” would be too late. Hitting that snake on “two” would assure that his son would stay still and not move too quickly, giving him just the right moment to hit his target. Dad knew the perfectness of his timing. To this day, I don’t believe my dad ever questioned his marksmanship or his ability to save his son – he just wanted the best outcome, at the best moment in time, even though we didn’t understand it!

In the same way, this is how the Lord works in our life. As a “child of God” we have to trust in our Heavenly Father’s perfect timing without being afraid. God’s infinite wisdom knows the best timing that will produce the best outcome. It’s in those deep moments of trusting Him when He makes himself known to us. It’s learning to be still and to wait as we seek help from above.

Don’t underestimate what God is doing in your season of waiting. Just like a child whose trust doesn’t falter or waiver as he looks up to his earthly father for protection and guidance, so we can look to our Heavenly Father to do the same.

Let’s take it one step further and consider God’s nature. Throughout the Bible, we find that He is the invisible God (Hebrews 11:6). He is the God of Hope (Psalm 42:5) and the hope we place in Him becomes the anchor of our souls, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19); He is from everlasting to everlasting. Creator of all things seen and invisible (Colossians 1:15-16; 1 Peter 1:3-7) and because He loves you and me and cares for us immensely (1 Peter 5:6-7), we can grow our faith into a personal, living, relational, friendship that allows us to expand our faith experientially so we have confidence that He is there for us! We can trust in His timing! He is greater than us and, “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20).

God’s character and love for us sheds further light on WHY we can trust in His timing:

He has loved us with an everlasting love . . . (Jeremiah 31:3)

He desires that none should perish . . . (2 Peter 3:9)

He is merciful and forgiving . . . (Daniel 9:9)

He cares for us . . . (1 Peter 5:6-7)

He protects us . . . (Proverbs 2:8)

He gives us every good and perfect gift . . . (James 1:17)

He saves us out of our troubles. . . (Psalm 34:6)

He hears and listens to us . . . (1 John 5:14-15)

He works and fights in our behalf against our spiritual enemy, Satan, through His mighty angels . . . (Revelation 20:1-2; Hebrews 1:14)

You can trust the leading of a Heavenly Father who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for you – don’t ever forget that – it’s the essence of the Gospel message…it’s the reason we can love and trust in Him who loved us first (2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 20:28)!

Trusting His perfect timing means that we trust in His Word, the Bible. To trust in His perfect timing is to place our reliance upon His faithfulness. When we come to that moment of “trusting in God’s timing,” our heart of faith kicks in, and belief in the God we’ve come to know opens up our “eyes of faith” that is needed for His perfect timing to move in our life. To do so, we need to know He exists and He rewards those who love Him (Hebrews 11:6).

God’s timing is amazing and astounding; it’s not perplexing or inconceivable. It penetrates the heart at just the right moment reminding us that He is not untouchable. His timing never fails, never falters and His Word is never empty and void of purpose.

In those “anointed moments” as I call them, everything comes together so perfectly because we were willing to wait and trust in God by faith. It’s in those anointed moments of trusting God’s timing where we gain spiritual insights from reading the written Word, from receiving answers to our prayers, from fellowship through serving God, and through the joyfulness of experiencing His unfailing faithfulness time and time again…these things make the reality of our faith come alive.

Somewhere I’ve heard it said, “God’s timing is forever accurate. Believe it. Trust it. Allow it.”

Faith is not just about being faithful; it’s also about trusting in God’s faithfulness. (John D. Barry)