Certain Christian terms are used so often that the vibrancy of their truth becomes dull with familiarity. When that happens, we can do two things to change our perspective. Going straight to God’s Word will always breathe life into the dry bones of our understanding. We can also find fresh insight from the discernment of Godly men and women who have walked before us. May these quotes about God’s timing, from the Bible and history, restore our awe of time and space—and revive our hope in the one who holds eternity in His hand.
A Word about Time
Before we dive into what scripture and Christian saints say about God’s timing, let’s consider the meaning of the word time. This four-letter English word falls short of telling the whole story about our existence. The ancient Greeks had a better handle on the concept; they used two words to describe time—chronos and kairos, and we see both used succinctly in scripture.
Chronos is the linear form of time that refers to the temporal moments and days we plot on a grid to determine chronological order. With chronos, there’s always a before and always an after. There’s no going back or skipping ahead. God created chronos for humankind the moment He spoke the earth into existence. However, God is not confined by chronos because He’s eternal.
Kairos is God’s timing. It has no point of origin and no end. We can only understand this form of time through spiritual insight. Our limited human comprehension prohibits us from grasping the full scope of eternity. Yet God has placed the longing for eternity in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) So, by divine appointment, He grants us glimpses of kairos—as His sovereign plans intersect humanity’s chronos timeline.
Whether we witness kairos at work in our own lives or on a global scale, the result is always the same. These God-ordained appointments cause a shift in our earthly momentum and move us closer to His eternal kingdom.
“That time which breaks through chronos with a shock of joy, that time we do not recognize while we are experiencing it, but only afterwards, because kairos has nothing to do with chronological time. In kairos we are completely unselfconscious, and yet paradoxically far more real than we can ever be when we’re constantly checking our watches for chronological time.” —Madeline L’Engle, Walking on Water
Quotes about God’s Timeless Nature
As we go about our days, we physically walk in this worldly realm, following a God-ordained pattern of chronos. Our earthly bodies age. We catalog memories, celebrate milestones, and look to calendars to determine growth. But we know as believers that there’s more to this world than meets the eye. Scripture tells us there’s a spiritual realm where time isn’t measured by the hands of the clock but by the will of the One who embodies time.
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Revelation 1:8)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13)
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8)
“In respect to time, there is no change in God whatsoever—no growth, no diminishment, not a trace of alteration. He remains untouched by the winds of time. He is without beginning or end, and He has no temporal succession—that is, He doesn’t move through time as we do. The eternality of God is simply the infinitude of God applied to time. By His eternal essence, God is the only being completely unaffected by the passage of time—He gains and loses nothing through the span history.”—Peter Sammons, Table Talk Magazine, June 2021
“The eternity of God’s existence is nothing else but his immediate, perfect, and invariable possession of the whole of his unlimited life, together and at once.”—Jonathon Edwards
“His [God’s] life does not consist of moments one following another...Ten-thirty-- and every other moment from the beginning of the world—is always Present for Him. If you like to put it this way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.”—C.S. Lewis
Bible Quotes about God’s Timing
Scriptures about choosing to walk in kairos instead of living for chronos.
Upon salvation, a believer is reborn and spiritually rescued from this temporary realm of darkness and translated into Christ’s everlasting Kingdom of light. While our earthly bodies remain in this world, which is no longer our home, we’re called to live as ambassadors for Christ. His indwelling Spirit enables us to walk in the realm of faith instead of the realm of sight. God’s timing becomes our timing as we submit our will to Him.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
“Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.” (Psalm 39:5)
“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12)
Scriptures about God’s precisely timed plans.
When we fix our temporal eyes on Jesus, we’re given new sight to see our worldly existence in the light of God’s grand scheme of redemption. God has given each Believer a pre-ordained mission to accomplish in the brief moments we’re allotted on earth. But through the power of His Spirit in us, His cosmic plans are played out on our earthly timeline as part of an epic symphony that will soon reach a grand finale.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (Ephesians 1:4-5)
“…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time [chronos], and which now at his appointed season [kairos] he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:3)
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
Christian Quotes about God’s Timing
As the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and brings God’s Word to life, He gives us a deep experiential insight into truth. Every event in the life of a Christian becomes a platform for the revelation of God’s love, grace, and glory. When believers share that insight with each other, the whole body of Christ is built up and enriched. Here are five quotes by heroes of the faith who know firsthand the earthly cost—and the eternal value—of God’s perfect timing.
“There are no ‘ifs’ in God’s kingdom. I could hear her soft voice saying it. His timing is perfect. His will is our hiding place. Lord Jesus, keep me in Your will! Don’t let me go mad by poking about outside it.”—Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
“To be sure, God shall call you, and us, only at the hour that God has chosen. Until that hour, which lies in God’s hand alone, we shall all be protected even in greatest danger, and from our gratitude for such protection ever new readiness surely arises for the final call.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“‘Time and place are our own limitations, Andy; we mustn’t impose them upon God … And yet,’ she said gently, ‘God hasn’t come to a standstill.’ Suddenly she laughed. ‘I think you’re like one of your own lumps of clay. God has a plan for you, and He’s trying to get you into the center of it, and you keep dodging and slithering away. Maybe He wants to make you into something wonderful!”—Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler
“Thank God for his sovereign intrusion into your life. Thank him that he loves you too much to let you wander, wasting your life and energies. He’s involved in a profound engineering project in your life, and your circumstances—even the pushing, squeezing, distressing ones—are part of that plan. Though it may not feel like it right now, it’s a plan to make your life more productive than you ever dreamed possible.”—Joni Eareckson Tada
Further Reading:
25 Inspirational Christian Quotes
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