“My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me,” — Psalm 31:15

Many years ago, after I finished my secondary school education, I had to spend several years at home before I could gain admission into the university to pursue my degree programme. But while I was at home during the waiting period, my high school mates had already gained admission into the university, pursuing their degree programmes. By the time I gained admission into the university, the majority of them had already graduated from their respective institutions of higher learning.

But today, in life, God has done good things in my life that, if they had to compare us together, I am better than some of them. One important lesson I learned during my waiting period, while I was trusting God for admission into the university, was that God was building character in me, trying to teach me how to value enviable pursuits. By the time I entered the university and eventually completed my degree programme, I graduated with a good result. Even through my compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps programme and until I got my first job, I had experienced the goodness of God.

Dear readers, it is God that decides the time and the pace at which we get our breakthrough in life. But as humans, due to our limitations, we tend to think that just because we have reached a certain age, we can’t achieve our heartfelt desires.

Taking a look at our Bible text above (Psalm 31:15), David was sad; his life was spent with grief, and his years with sighing. His sorrow had wasted him, his strength, and even his bones were consumed within him. Cruel enemies pursued him with malicious craft, even seeking his life. At such a time, he used the best resource of grief, for he says in verse 14: “But I trusted in you, O Lord.” He had no other refuge but that which he found in faith in the Lord his God.

If enemies slandered him, he did not render railing for railing. If they devised to take away his life, he did not meet violence with violence. Instead, he calmly trusted in the Lord. They ran here and there, using all kinds of nets and traps to make David their victim, but he met all their inventions with one simple defense: trust in God.

The close of life is not decided by the sharp knife of the fates, but by the hand of love. We shall not die before our time, neither shall we be forgotten or left upon the stage too long. Not only are we ourselves in the hand of the Lord, but all that surrounds us. Our times make up God’s hand; we are absolutely at His disposal, and all our circumstances are arranged by Him in all their details.

This comes to mind: how come the psalmist’s times are thus in God’s hand? First, that they were there in the order of nature, according to His eternal purpose and decree. All things are ordained by God and are settled by Him, according to His wise and holy predestination. Whatever happens in our lives happens not by chance, but according to the counsel of the Most High God.

This brings to my mind the story of the patriarchs of the Christian faith, Abraham and Sarah. Sarah (originally named Sarai) was one of the several women in the Bible who were unable to have children. That proved doubly distressing for her because God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. God appeared to Abraham, Sarah’s husband, when he was ninety-nine years old and made a covenant with him. He told Abraham that he would be the father of the Jewish nation, with descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky (Genesis 17:15-16).

Abraham’s story is a story that looks comical, especially considering what medical science calls a “biological clock” ticking—simply meaning that there is a stage a woman reaches when she cannot conceive. But God’s power is able to surpass any historical medical prognosis.

This also brings to mind the story of the late South African elder statesman Nelson Mandela. He became the president of South Africa at the age of 76. Before he became president, he spent 27 years in prison. He emerged in 1990 to become the country’s first black president. Despite all that he experienced before he became president, and all his suffering in prison, he still believed that he could become an influential figure in his country—and he did.

The time we set out to pursue our life goals is different for each of us, but it is God who determines how the journey will be. It can be sweet and rosy, but one thing is for sure: it will work out for good.

So, next time you look at the clock and it seems as if it is ticking at a faster pace, simply pray the psalmist’s prayer: “My times are in your hand.”
God bless you.