At Just the Right Time
David Langerfeld
Aug 27, 2009
While serving on a medical-dental team in Ecuador in August, 2005, I had to undergo an emergency appendectomy in Latacunga, Ecuador. The following is a part of a sermon based on that experience. Since it is a sermon, it’s longer than the usual Daily Encourager – but I felt impressed to share it with you once again.
“At Just the Right Time”
Romans 5:6
Just over a month ago, while I was preaching in Latacunga, Ecuador, my stomach began to hurt. I assumed maybe it was the food or the high altitude, but I was confident that it would soon go away.
It didn’t go away. Later that night, my discomfort turned into immense pain and moved to my right side. One of my roommates, a doctor on our medical team, heard my cries of anguish and made a tentative diagnosis. After a confirmation by one of the surgeons on our team, I had to have an emergency appendectomy the next day.
When I shared this with a relative, he laughed and said, “Well, it looks like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” What a great opportunity for me to share my faith. I told him it was just the opposite. “God had everything prepared for me. He had the right people, in the right place, at the right time.”
The Right People
First of all, God had the right people – a surgeon, a surgical nurse and a nurse translator who were part of our Medical-Dental Mission Team.
The Right Place
Second, God had me in the right place. If this had happened in the middle of the night at my home here in Tupelo, I wouldn’t have had a doctor in the room with me to diagnosis the problem. I wouldn’t have had nurses in the next room to take care of me before and after the surgery. Also, I would have been trying to locate someone in the middle of the night to stay with Lynda.
The Right Time
Third, God did this at just the right time. If this had happened one day earlier, we would have had one less doctor and two fewer nurses to work in the clinic on our busiest day of the week. If this had happened just one day later, I would have been in an airplane over the Gulf of Mexico and the outcome could have been much different.
The right people, in the right place, at the right time.
Romans 5:6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” The first part of this verse has taken on new meaning to me. “At just the right time, when we were weak and powerless…”
That night in the motel room in Ecuador, I was physically weak and powerless. But…
…..God had already prepared for me.
……God had already provided for me.
……God had already protected me.
The right people in the right place at the right time. Although I will always be grateful for his physical provision in this situation, it pales in comparison to His spiritual provision. Look with me at the scripture once again, “You see, at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
When I was powerless to save myself.
When I was powerless to forgive myself.
When I was unable to pay for my sin
…..Christ paid the price for my sin
……Christ died on the Cross for me
At just the right time – Jesus Christ died for this ungodly sinner.
We all have a tendency to become anxious and we want to know
…..what’s going to happen,
……when it’s going to happen
……and where we are going to be when it happens.
We all tend to get ahead of God.
…We rely on our own plans, our own thoughts and our own abilities.
….We want something to happen, so we try to force it to happen.
….We know how it ought to be done, so we try to make it work the way we want it to work.
Sometimes, we even wait on God for a “little while”, and pray about it for a “long time”, and when he doesn’t do it our way, or he doesn’t do it as soon as we want it done, we go ahead and do it our way.
Abraham and Sarah
God had promised them an heir. It seemed obvious to them that the time for Sarah to have children had passed, so they became anxious and took matters into their own hands. They ended up having a son by Hagar, their servant. Their decision to get ahead of God and his time schedule is one of the major reasons for the crisis in the Middle East today. Then look what happened - at “Just the Right Time,” Isaac was born.
Joseph
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was imprisoned by Potiphar, even when he did the right thing when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. He was left in prison and forgotten. Nobody remembered him.
Yet at “Just the Right Time” he was placed in charge of the grain distribution. He was able to help his family and the nation of Israel in a unique and special way, because he was put in charge – at just the right time.
This is only the beginning. Think of all the other great Bible characters that were able to accomplish great things, because God did something at just the right time
…..The 3 Hebrew children delivered from the fiery furnace
……Daniel delivered from the Lions’ den
……Jonah delivered from the belly of a fish,
……Job, Elijah, David – the list is overwhelming.
In the life of Jesus, there were people with chronic illnesses or unbearable pain that He met “At just the Right Time.” Take for instance the woman who had suffered from bleeding for so many years and had never been healed, but “at just the right time”, Jesus healed her. What about the daughter of Jairus? Everyone thought she was dead. But it wasn’t her time. Jesus healed her – he raised her from the dead – at just the right time.
Lazarus
Lazarus’ sister Martha was so bold, she told Jesus “if he had only been there”, that her brother wouldn’t have died. Martha was assuming that the world’s timing was God’s timing. She felt hopeless and helpless because it was obvious that nothing else could be done because her brother was dead.
But…
…..At just the right time, Jesus arrived.
……At just the right time, Jesus did a miracle.
……At just the right time, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
Blind Bartimeaus
Bartimeaus was begging outside of a house in Jericho. Jesus was leaving town on his way to Jerusalem. It was the last earthly journey Jesus would make before his crucifixion.
Blind Bartimeaus was in the right place at the right time when the right person was walking down the street in front of him. If he hadn’t shouted out for Jesus – he never would have been healed. If he had waited for a better time, a more convenient time – he would have missed out on a miracle. At just the right time, Blind Bartimeaus was healed.
But more importantly, at just the right time, Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. And because of that, we can receive spiritual healing. We can be forgiven for our sin and we can have eternal life.
When We Were Powerless
You may be asking yourselves,
…..How can I know when it’s the right time?
……How can I make sure that I’m following God’s timetable? (and not my own?)
The answer is simple. It’s in the middle of our scripture. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
When we were still powerless – That’s the key.
If you’re not a Christian, the first thing you need to do is to admit that you are powerless. You have to recognize that you’re powerless to save yourself and to turn to the only one who does have the power to save you – Jesus Christ. You have to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin, to save you and to come into you heart to live in you forever as your Lord and Savior.
What about all of us Christians that are in this sanctuary tonight? We have to do something very similar. We have to admit that we’re powerless to live the Christian life. It is only when we accept the fact that we are powerless that we can have the full power of Christ.
If we can meet our own needs,
…..God doesn’t need to meet them
……They’re already met.
If we can make our own plans,
…..God doesn’t need to direct us.
……We’re already going where we want to go
If have our own resources,
…..We don’t need God’s resources
……We’re already relying on ourselves
If we can do it in our own strength.
…..We don’t need God’s strength
……We’re doing just fine on our own.
In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, “If any man wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself daily, take up the cross and follow me.”
What does it mean to deny yourself? It means that you have to admit that your powerless. It means that you have to:
…..surrender your plans to God’s plans
……surrender your strength to God’s strength
……surrender your power for God’s power and
……surrender your will to God’s will.
When you finally admit that you’re powerless to do anything is when God will show you His power that He can do everything. Let me repeat that. When you finally admit that you’re powerless to do anything is when God will show you His power that He can do everything.
Can you think of the times in your own life when God supplied your needs at “Just the Right Time”? Take heart! He knew your need then – He knows your need now!
…..Just when you need His provision,
…..Just when you need His protection,
……Just when need His comfort,
……Just when you need His mercy and His grace,
……Just when you need His love,
God will provide it – at just the right time.
Have you gotten ahead of God? Have you made your own plans and then asked him to bless your plans? Have you turned away from God because he hasn’t given you what you wanted when you wanted it?
At just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. At the just the right time Christ died on the cross for you. At just the right time he will deliver you or lead you through whatever your facing tonight. Be patient – wait on his timing – look for his answer – it will come - at just the right time.
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David Langerfeld
Harrisburg Baptist Church
