There is nothing like being nine months pregnant to remind a woman that she is not in control of life. I was told yesterday at my 37 week prenatal appointment that I am officially “full term,” but all that really means is that I can go into labor at any moment.

Babies don’t wait until everyone is “ready” for them – they decide to come when they are good and ready. You could be in the middle of a traffic jam, on a great little weekend getaway, at the office, or trying to get a good night’s sleep (which seems to be their favorite timing to enter the planet) and we moms and dads just have to accept it. They come on their terms, not ours – and often when it seems like the most IN-opportune time.

Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time to give birth….” (Ecc. 3:2) The word “time” here is “a fit or proper time, an opportunity.” God knows the day that each of us ought to enter and exit this world and He planned it long ago, before the beginning of time.

If the day of our birth and death are pre-determined by God, why should we think that the other events of our lives are up to chance or that we (necessarily) have control of them?

Letting God Lead

Timing is everything. Speaking your mind, flipping a pancake, changing a car’s oil – it’s all about the right timing. Many of the most important events in our lives, though, can’t be pre-planned, even if we wish they could be.

Falling in love, the exact day or week of the conception or birth of a child, landing “our dream job” – these are all things that we can’t control.

Proverbs 3:5-6 holds some great advice for us at each turning point in our life journey: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

I often think I know what is best for my life. So do you. It’s a human condition called “pride.” I think I know what my children need, too. Often I am right. Sometimes, I realize that I was totally wrong.

That is the why the best move to take is to surrender our timing and plans to God. Multiple scriptures warn us against thinking we know best or that we can predict our future:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” – Proverbs 14:12

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” – Proverbs 27:1

God Knows Best

One of my best friends just had her world turned upside down in the matter of a week. She had planned on staying in our area and running our homeschool co-op. She had planned on being an “auntie” to my new baby and to her other friends babies who are about to be born. She had planned on continuing to invest in her current community.

These were all great ideas, but God had different plans for their family. In two weeks, my friend and her family will be moving to the Midwest due to an amazing job opportunity that has opened up for her husband there.

Even in the midst of mourning all that she will be leaving behind, she has a peace in her heart and has watched God confirm in multiple ways that, while unexpected, this move is in His perfect time and plan for their lives.

Has anything happened recently to “mess up” the plan you had for your life? Or maybe you just think that God is behind on something – that you’ve been waiting too long and surely He needs to “get on board” with your program?

The God who knows every hair on your head and planned the day of your birth knows what to bring your way this day. This week. This year. He knows what is best for you even better than you do. If you’ve been resisting His timing, I encourage you to do what you must to release control and surrender to Christ’s plans for you in this season.

Often, this just means looking up to Him and saying, “I don’t understand why this isn’t happening (or is happening), but I choose to trust you. I choose to believe your time and way is best, Lord.”

Before long, I will be embracing a son. But I’m reminded today that it won’t be on my time table. It will be on God’s. And I’m cool with that, because His timing is always best.