In our last visit we studied how Jesus managed time in his life. He had a mission to accomplish and knew better than anyone that you only have a certain amount of time to do what you’re going to do. If you don’t get with it, opportunity will start ebbing away, and at a given time, end. Jesus didn’t allow this reality to stress Him.
How did He do that? He didn’t let others pressure Him into their time frames. He responded to His brother’s pressure in John 7:6 by saying, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”
In addition, Jesus didn’t allow threats to His life to disrupt His spirit. In John 7:30 it says, “they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come,” and in 8:20, where they wanted to attack Him, “Yet no one seized him.” Jesus knew the enemy can only operate within the time constraints that God sets in place. So He didn’t let fear sidetrack Him from doing what needed to be done.
When the right time arrived, even though it was a time when He would experience the greatest pain and rejection, He was ready to face the test and triumph because He had managed His time and inner resources well and conserved the strength He needed.
We too need to resist the pressure and threat of time constraints others put on us or that we put on ourselves. Then we need to respond wholeheartedly when the right time does come, working hard at what needs doing. When we do this God uses and blesses our efforts.
