Right On Time
Clay Curtis

My wife and I recently had a friend telephone us well in advance to ask the specific hour we expected her to arrive at our home. My reply was, "Right on time." Knowing the time constraints of her job and the sure prospect of traffic congestion she explained that she might not arrive exactly at the time we expected. I reassured her that whenever she arrived at our home she would be right on time. What I meant is that if it was the Lord's will that my friend did arrive at our home, whether before, at, or after our target time, it would be the right time because it would be in the Lord's time.

We live in a fast-paced world. The believer sometimes loses the peace of knowing that our Lord controls all things. Being late may be my fault because I did not wake up in time. It may be that my children held me back because I did not instruct them an hour earlier so as to give them time to fight off all the same infirmities that years of experience have taught me to fight off more quickly. My job may hold me over so that I had to fulfill the responsibilities that I am entrusted with. Yet, as believers, may we never shift the blame to someone else for our being late but be patient in every circumstance toward one another, at peace, knowing that we are not on the world's time but on the Lord's time.

If it be the Lord's will that we arrive at the predetermined location, whether we arrive early, at the appointed time or late, we are right on time because it is in the Lord's time. The question we should ask ourselves is have we learned to curb our flesh, to make all adjustments necessary to be on time, and to trust that according to our sovereign Lord's omnipotent hand we are arriving, even if after all our faithful attempts we be late, right on time. As believer's, let us receive one another just the same way.

After my wife and I enjoyed the company of our friend, we spoke about her attending the worship service with us. Whether she arrives today or years from today, if it be the Lord's will that she be here, just like she arrived at our home that particular evening, I can receive her with patient readiness knowing that by the sovereign hand of our Lord she will be right on time.