Timing is Everything
Well, I told you this week I would introduce you to someone new. Meet Erin Jones, a wonderful long-time friend of mine from the Big Island of Hawaii. She is a synodical trained deaconess and all-around great person. If you want to know more about her, I placed her biography at the bottom after the devotion. Anyway, she reached out to me about helping…and since I turned down her offer to open a church in Hawaii, she settled for helping out in the devotion department. Thanks for helping Erin, now, on with the devotion!
Timing is Everything
As some of you know, earlier this year I moved from Michigan to the big island of Hawaii. It was a huge move that came about because God sent a wonderful man into my life when I wasn’t looking and certainly wasn’t expecting Him to.
Throughout the past two years since we met, I have wondered why God brought us together when He did. The timing just didn’t make sense to me. There were challenges involved that made the timing seem all wrong in a lot of ways. It left me wondering, “why now? Why not ten years ago? Or a couple of years from now? Why this moment in time?”
However, God does nothing by mistake and His timing is always perfect.
It reminds me of a moment in the first Lord of the Rings movie in which Frodo catches sight of Gandalf driving his cart through the shire to Bilbo’s house. Frodo runs to greet him and says, “You’re late.” Gandalf replies, “A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”
As Pastor Dan mentioned in his Sunday sermon, every generation since Adam and Eve has hoped and prayed and thought that their generation would be the one in which the Messiah made His appearance. And yet year after year, generation after generation, century after century passed, and still the Messiah did not come.
I wonder if each succeeding generation questioned God’s timing. “Why not now, Lord?” I wonder if Mary, when Gabriel delivered the news that she would be the mother of the Savior, besides wondering “Why me?”, did she also wonder, “Why now? Why not last generation? Why not a thousand years ago? Or a few years from now? Why this moment in time?”
The answer can be found in Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
God’s timing doesn’t always make sense to us, but Our God is never late. Nor is He early. He arrived precisely when He meant to and He will come again precisely when the time is right.
God bless,
Erin Jones
Want to know more about Erin? Here you go:
Erin is the middle of three siblings born and raised in Southeast Michigan. Erin attended
Lutheran schools from Kindergarten through Grad school [Our Shepherd Lutheran School –
Birmingham, MI (‘89-‘98); Lutheran High Northwest – Rochester Hills, MI (‘98-‘02)]. Erin has
always had a passion for music (she plays several instruments and is a soprano), art, writing, and
theology. She began her studies at Concordia University-Ann Arbor (‘02-‘07) first as a church
music major and then as a member of the pre-seminary program with a major in religious
studies. She also served her dorm and campus community as a Spiritual Life Representative. She
went on to study theology at the Master’s level in the deaconess program at Concordia
Theological Seminary – Fort Wayne, Indiana (‘07-‘09).
Erin met Pastor Dan (although he was introduced to her and will forever know him as “Ducky”)
and his wife Moriah her freshman year of college. Moriah was one of Erin’s dorm mates and
became a dear friend very quickly. Erin met Ducky through Moriah and quickly became friends
with him too. After graduation, they kept in touch off and on without ever realizing how close
they lived to each other.
Erin stumbled upon Hope’s live-streamed services during the pandemic and was ecstatic to find
out the church her dear friend was pastoring was so close to her home. Erin had been looking for
a new church home and immediately felt welcomed and wanted here. She was quickly invited to
join the music ministry and happily did so. She is thrilled to continue having opportunities to
serve her church family at Hope even though she now lives thousands of miles away.
Erin now lives on the big island of Hawaii where she continues being a musician, artist, and
writer while enjoying the lack of snow and cold weather. She also loves to cook and bake and
works part time for a restaurant near her home.
P.S. She loves visitors!
Pastor Dan’s note: Yes Ducky…. when I was a 6, Howard the Duck came out……yeah…Howard the Duck stuck…. then Land Before Time came out 2 years later…. Howard the Duck was shortened to Ducky…. So, there is the history, no you can’t call me Pastor Ducky
Thanks for the help Erin!