God's time?

[probinson]

I see this phrase bandied about so much that you'd think it was on every page in the Bible. Yet a quick search will show that there is no such phrase anywhere in the Bible (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) So I guess my question is, where does this doctrine of "God's time" come from? Who made it up? What are its origins? And why are people so hung up on "God's time" when this is a concept not even found in scripture?

 

[pdudgeon]

the first part of "God's time" is the concept of the passage of time which can be found in 2 Peter 3:8. "But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day."

God is the creator of time but He exists outside of it and is not affected by it as we are.

examples of the second concept, the fullness of time can be found in Ephesians 1:10. 'And this is his plan; At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth.'

and also in Galations 4:4. But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law."

this shows that not only must time pass but that everything must be ready and in place for events to happen according to God's time.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Ecclesiates 3 explains the "times" individually in figures of speech that present two opposite extremes that cover the variety of times. There is a time for everything because God has set the times. When we follow God's plan (will), we trust (put in faith in) His timing for our spiritual well-being.

God's time is eternal, not temporal:
Genesis 1:14
Deuteronomy 29:29
Psalm 31:15
Psalm 90:1, 10
Psalm 103:15-16
Isaiah 46:9-10
Matthew 28:20
Mark 13:32-33
John 21:18-22
2 Peter 3:8,11,14

I will have more later.

 

[JimB]

I see this phrase bandied about so much that you'd think it was on every page in the Bible. Yet a quick search will show that there is no such phrase anywhere in the Bible (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) So I guess my question is, where does this doctrine of "God's time" come from? Who made it up? What are its origins? And why are people so hung up on "God's time" when this is a concept not even found in scripture?

Granted, the term “God’s time” is not in the Bible. But then, the word “Bible” is not in the Bible, either. Neither is the words “Trintiy” or “Rapture”. These are terms/words that convey concepts.

I suppose the question becomes, is there a time for every thing under the sun? And Jimbohio answered that one, above.

I thought of David sitting out under the mulberry tree waiting for the Lord’s signal, the going/rustling/marching in the top of the trees, to know when “God’s time” was for him to move his armies against the Philistines. He was under orders from God. God said to wait for His timing, if you ask me. [see story here]

How’ bout that?

Sincerely,
~Vic Tory

 

[probinson]

I guess my point is, shouldn't "God's time" become "our time" when we are saved? Why does it seem like "God's time" and "our time" are opposing "times"?

 

[Dondi]

"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;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." - Ecclesiates 3:1-8

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" - Isaiah 46:10

"Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;" - Isaiah 49:8

"And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be." - Daniel 8:19

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." - Hab. 2:3

"And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." - Acts 1:7

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." - Acts 17:26-28

All in God's time.

 

[Tenebrae]

I guess my point is, shouldn't "God's time" become "our time" when we are saved? Why does it seem like "God's time" and "our time" are opposing "times"?

Well you coulf argue that if a day to the lord is a thousand years

By the end of today I will be 1028 years old

 

[Dondi]

God is Eternal, outside the boundaries of our time. he know the end from the beginning, yet He is also in control.

It is difficult to imagine this in our finite little minds. But with the advent of quantum physics, the concept of time is beginning to be understood a relative to the viewer. God's sense of time is different than ours.

I read a book that explained this a bit more. Imagine your son set out from earth and arrived at a planet whose gravity was so masssive that it slowed the rate of time by a factor of 350,000 relative to that of earth's time. (I realize that incredible pressure would instantly crush anything on it, but for the sake of argument...). According to the quantum physics model, two years of earth time would amount only to three minutes on the massive planet.

So a thousand years could very well equal a day in the Lord's eyes.

 

[Christina M]

"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;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." - Ecclesiates 3:1-8

Funny, I don't see "A time to be sick, and a time to be well."



GOD IS GOOD!!!

 

[Atlantians]

I see this phrase bandied about so much that you'd think it was on every page in the Bible. Yet a quick search will show that there is no such phrase anywhere in the Bible (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) So I guess my question is, where does this doctrine of "God's time" come from? Who made it up? What are its origins? And why are people so hung up on "God's time" when this is a concept not even found in scripture?

The phrase Trinity does not appear in the Bible, yet we believe in it because the concept of the trinity is everywhere in the Word.

Same with God's Timing.

I guess my point is, shouldn't "God's time" become "our time" when we are saved? Why does it seem like "God's time" and "our time" are opposing "times"?

Because we are not God, and we are not perfect.

Funny, I don't see "A time to be sick, and a time to be well."

There was a time for Job to be sick and a time for him to be well.

God is Eternal, outside the boundaries of our time. he know the end from the beginning, yet He is also in control.

So a thousand years could very well equal a day in the Lord's eyes.

Not really.

The phrase thousand is always used in the Bible to signify infinity.

Besides the point of that passage is to say that time is relative, and God is outside of our understanding of time.

 

[JimfromOhio]

What then is time?
If no one asks me, I know what it is.
If I wish to explain it to someone who asks, I do not now.
Saint Augustine

Time is eternity begun. James Montgomery

There is but a set between me and death. 1 Sam. 20:3

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 38:15
I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

If we spend our time with regrets over yesterday,
and worries over what might happen tomorrow,
we have "no today" in which we live.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Ps. 90:12

Time is
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice.
But, for those who love, time is not. Henry van Dyke

By faith, we grow in time to trust the future for our answers. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 "Take therefore no thought of tomorrow; for tomorrow shall take thought for the things itself."

 

[Trish1947]

I see this phrase bandied about so much that you'd think it was on every page in the Bible. Yet a quick search will show that there is no such phrase anywhere in the Bible (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) So I guess my question is, where does this doctrine of "God's time" come from? Who made it up? What are its origins? And why are people so hung up on "God's time" when this is a concept not even found in scripture?

I don't know how this got into the mix. God time if we're going to believe there is time for Him, means to me that He stepped into our existance of time to complete redemption. But yet it was decided upon before the creation of time. We carry no time within us. Our spirits no such boundry. It's not limited to time. Alot of people that receive a vision from God, notice this right off..It seems like it took just a few minutes to complete the vision, but when they check out earthly time, hours may have passed. I've always thought if you could step into Gods timing, it's always in the now.

 

[BarbB]

I guess my point is, shouldn't "God's time" become "our time" when we are saved? Why does it seem like "God's time" and "our time" are opposing "times"?

Sure, but we still aren't perfect while we are being perfected! My Hebrew teacher cautions us continually to consult God with OUR plans to get confirmation - to not get ahead of God and not lag behind God, but to be walking hand in hand with God. I'm still learning this.

One example this past month. This same teacher's 95 year old mother is dying of senile dementia - a sad fate for a wonderful Christian woman. The teacher herself is wheelchair bound and yet was trying to nurse her mother with the help of county services and friends - it was way too much for everyone. In the meantime I got the phone number of a Hospice which has a Hospice House for just such as Alice and a place for Mary Lou to stay and just be a daughter to her dying mother. But I kept hesitating to get in contact with them. Don't know why. Finally, Mary Lou was on her last nerve and asked me to call them. I did and Alice got right in. She is in tender loving hands right now - good Christian nurses. Mary Lou's cared for as well. If I had called when I got the number, Mary Lou would have rejected her mother moving away from her. Instead I had the info ready when she couldn't take anymore. I should add also that her car didn't work so she couldn't have visited or driven down to stay. Also, we prayed for a car and immediately one was found. And the story goes on and on and on. The point being, God's timing was met, needs made known and the needs filled immediately. But the timing was God's - not ours for sure.

 

[Hisgirl]

I don't know how this got into the mix. God time if we're going to believe there is time for Him, means to me that He stepped into our existance of time to complete redemption. But yet it was decided upon before the creation of time. We carry no time within us. Our spirits no such boundry. It's not limited to time. Alot of people that receive a vision from God, notice this right off..It seems like it took just a few minutes to complete the vision, but when they check out earthly time, hours may have passed. I've always thought if you could step into Gods timing, it's always in the now.

That's an astounding post Trish!!

 

[swifteagle]

My husband recently received a prophetic word that he was now "off the clock".

It meant that he was no longer going to be bound by his own time but by God's ...which of course, is different.

We thought it was pretty exciting!

 

[churchlady]

My husband recently received a prophetic word that he was now "off the clock".

It meant that he was no longer going to be bound by his own time but by God's ...which of course, is different.

We thought it was pretty exciting!

Wow! That's going to be exciting to watch unfold!

By the way, haven't seen you online for awhile. Hope you intend to hang around.

 

[BarbB]

My husband recently received a prophetic word that he was now "off the clock".

It meant that he was no longer going to be bound by his own time but by God's ...which of course, is different.

We thought it was pretty exciting!

Wow, I want to hear what happens!

 

[Dondi]

I don't know how this got into the mix. God time if we're going to believe there is time for Him, means to me that He stepped into our existance of time to complete redemption. But yet it was decided upon before the creation of time. We carry no time within us. Our spirits no such boundry. It's not limited to time. Alot of people that receive a vision from God, notice this right off..It seems like it took just a few minutes to complete the vision, but when they check out earthly time, hours may have passed. I've always thought if you could step into Gods timing, it's always in the now.

I've heard that those who have had near-death experiences lose that sense of time, as if time had no meaning during the time of their NDE. They would experience many things during the NDE, but only a fraction of time would elapse in the real time. This would lead me to believe, as quantum mechanics seems to indicate, that time only exists in the physical world.

 

[Dondi]

Sure, but we still aren't perfect while we are being perfected! My Hebrew teacher cautions us continually to consult God with OUR plans to get confirmation - to not get ahead of God and not lag behind God, but to be walking hand in hand with God. I'm still learning this.

One example this past month. This same teacher's 95 year old mother is dying of senile dementia - a sad fate for a wonderful Christian woman. The teacher herself is wheelchair bound and yet was trying to nurse her mother with the help of county services and friends - it was way too much for everyone. In the meantime I got the phone number of a Hospice which has a Hospice House for just such as Alice and a place for Mary Lou to stay and just be a daughter to her dying mother. But I kept hesitating to get in contact with them. Don't know why. Finally, Mary Lou was on her last nerve and asked me to call them. I did and Alice got right in. She is in tender loving hands right now - good Christian nurses. Mary Lou's cared for as well. If I had called when I got the number, Mary Lou would have rejected her mother moving away from her. Instead I had the info ready when she couldn't take anymore. I should add also that her car didn't work so she couldn't have visited or driven down to stay. Also, we prayed for a car and immediately one was found. And the story goes on and on and on. The point being, God's timing was met, needs made known and the needs filled immediately. But the timing was God's - not ours for sure.

Great story, BarbB! We should always be on the look out for God's appointment schedule.

 

[TreeOfLife]

I've heard that those who have had near-death experiences lose that sense of time, as if time had no meaning during the time of their NDE. They would experience many things during the NDE, but only a fraction of time would elapse in the real time. This would lead me to believe, as quantum mechanics seems to indicate, that time only exists in the physical world.

Amen.