We worked on a leaf collection this week for school. I think it’s probably my favorite project of the year. When I was young, it was my favorite project for school; and I love collecting leaves even more now as an adult. I love wondering through the woods, looking for the most beautiful leaves in reds, golds, yellows, oranges, and all the shades in between.
I sat for a few minutes in the car before I got out at one of our parks. As I sat and watched, the wind blew and leaves began to fall all around the park. It was absolutely beautiful, and it made me think about the process of falling leaves.
Leaves Falling
What I think is amazing is that leaves stay on the trees all throughout spring and summer. During those two seasons, the winds blow, storms come, rain dumps on them, and still they hold on. The leaves don’t fall off the trees. Yet, as soon as winter gets close, the tiniest little breeze can shake the leaves off the trees.
Why do leaves fall so easily this time of year and yet hang on so tightly to their branches even in the midst of terrible storms earlier in the year? It all comes down to one thing.
Timing.
Timing
It’s such a good picture of how God works in our lives. We can try to do things on our own, in our own power, and it just doesn’t work out. God leads us to do something or to take on something, and it doesn’t take off. We get tired, discouraged, and want to give up.
And then there’s the time when things just go forward, and everything comes together. God works in ways you couldn’t dream of, and you sit back and watch him work. What’s the difference between the two?
Timing.
Different Seasons
You might have the right idea, the right plan, and the right people; but it may just not be the right timing. And sometimes we don’t figure that out until it comes together later, and we sit back and see…oh, this is when it was supposed to happen.
So how do you know when it’s the right timing? How do you know if the right timing is now or if you should wait? The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is all about seasons; there’s a right time to do things.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT
God’s Guiding
The only way to know God’s perfect timing is to pray about it, to seek his face and his guidance. I often pray through Proverbs 3:5,6 when I’m trying to get God’s guidance.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT
Here are five ways that’s God’s used in my life over the years to help me know if it’s the right time for something.
5 Ways to that Now is the Right Time
You feel in your heart of hearts like God is leading you to do this now.
Everything you are reading in your morning time routine, is pointing you in this direction.
The sermons you listen to, and the books you read all seem to be saying things that point in this direction.
Your spouse and or other family members are on board and supportive.
God has already started to move on your behalf, even if it’s something small.
If you can relate to these five ways, then it’s time to move forward! Step out in faith and see what God is going to do!
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When Everybody Else is Succeeding Except for You
Do you ever feel like everybody else is succeeding in life except for you? Sometimes it feels like everybody has their act together except for us. Of course, the way this most often manifests itself is on social media. Everybody on social media is succeeding; at least, that’s how it feels
I’m not usually one of those people that has to take a break from social media. I am on social media often because of trying to build a platform for my books and for Manney Resources. Usually, I can hop on, scroll around, and hop off and it doesn’t bother me. Lately though, it’s been a source of continual frustration.
My Own Personal Struggle
Let me peel back the curtains and give you a glimpse into my personal life. I write books and blog posts for Faithfully Stepping, but I also write fantasy fiction books under my pen name, A. J. Manney.
Well, there is a young mom on Instagram that started writing this past year. She’s an independent author like myself and published her first book on Amazon in November of 2020. She had very little social media presence prior to her book launch.
Her book has done exceptionally well. She has over four hundred reviews already for it. She’s written three more books since then, and they’re all doing really well. Meanwhile, my book hasn’t even hit twenty reviews yet, and it’s been out for a year longer than hers. Watching her book take off has been incredibly hard for me. I’ve really struggled with wondering whether I should even continue down this path.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why it is I’m not succeeding, trying to figure out what to change. I’ve cried, stressed, worked harder, tried more things, only to come up empty time and time again. I’ve been so frustrated with it lately, and I feel like every time I jump on social media I see somebody else who is killing it. It’s really been defeating for me.
Then God gave me a simple reminder a few days ago that came in the form of a simple flower.
Two Different Flowers
When you look at the two pictures below, what do you notice? How are they different? Which one do you want in your home?
I think we would all say that we love the first flower. It’s beautiful. It’s in full bloom and doing what it was created to do. The second flower, not so much. It’s not beautiful yet. It’s actually kind of ugly at the moment. It doesn’t draw our attention like the first flower does.
I saw these two flowers the other day and snapped a picture. God brought this thought to mind, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since: There is only one difference between the first flower and the second…time. Both flowers receive the same amount of sunlight and water. The same caretaker cares for them. They are similar in every way except one bloomed sooner than the other.
When it’s the right time, that second flower is going to bloom. It will be beautiful. It will catch people’s eye. No one will remember when it was ugly; they will only remember it in full bloom
A Time for Succeeding
Solomon reminds us in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecclesiastes 3:1,2 KJV
If you’re in a season of life right now like I am where you feel like everyone around you is succeeding, but you’re not and no matter how hard you work, you just can’t seem to get ahead…maybe it’s simply a timing thing.
Remember that God took Moses to the backside of a desert for 80 years before God led him to free the children of Israel. It took fifteen years for David to become King after Samuel anointed him. Joseph was around seventeen when he had his dreams, but it wasn’t until he turned thirty that God brought his dreams to pass and he became second in command of all of Egypt. Jesus waited thirty years before beginning his public ministry that only lasted three years. Yet, those three years of ministry make Him the most well-known person in history.
I think we could agree that each of these people led amazing lives of faith that still inspire us today. Yet each one of them had this in common—they led lives of obscurity until God brought them into the light.
God’s Timing
God’s timing is so much better than ours because he thinks so differently than we do. Why? Because we think only in terms of the here and now. God thinks in view of eternity.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8,9 MEV
If you are feeling right now that you just aren’t where you thought you’d be by now, that you just aren’t succeeding as you should be, let me give you two thoughts to encourage you.
1. It’s a Timing Thing
It’s just not the right time. You just aren’t in full bloom yet. Right now, you’re still growing, still finding your way. When it’s the right time, you are going to bloom…and it’s going to be beautiful.
But don’t stop working hard, pushing, striving, creating, and becoming the best you can be at what you are doing. So when the time is right, you will be ready to succeed.
2. God Is Using the Tension to Push You to Greatness
Do you realize that God often intentionally brings rivals into your life to provoke you? Not to provoke you to anger or jealousy, but to provoke you to greatness. To poke you and prod you toward the potential He sees in you.
When Women Pray
Go back and read that again. It’s so good, isn’t it? I decided that this author has been brought into my life to provoke me. Not to make me mad or jealous, but simply to push me towards the potential God sees in me. What an amazing way to turn things around. What a great way to think about it!
Who in your life right now is God using to push you towards your potential, towards the greatness He knows is inside of you because He placed it there Himself?
I don’t know where you’re at right now. Maybe this doesn’t even apply to you. But if you are someone who needed to hear this today, I hope these words encourage your heart.
Encouragement for Today
If God has placed someone in your life who is always one step ahead of you. She has more social media followers, she makes more sales or income, has a nicer house, dresses better, and on and on the list goes…realize that she might be in your life simply to push you towards your potential. So don’t get mad. Don’t give up. Use it to push you towards the greatness God has for you.
If it’s a timing issue, there is absolutely not one thing you can do. It’s in God’s hands. Read this verse and let these words encourage your heart.
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time.
I Peter 5:6 MSG
You be you, and let God do the work of promoting you in due time. When it’s the right time, you will bloom and it will be the most beautiful thing to see.
