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How do those birds do it? They are in the middle of their road kill breakfast or lunch, and I am barreling down on them, doing 55 (OK, maybe 58) mph. They wait until the very last minute, and then with a flap or two of their wings, they are out of the way. I go on my way, and they return to lunch. My question is why do they wait until I am almost upon them, and how do they know the exact moment to flap those huge wings? They must hear me coming, if not feel it, so why wait? Why not just get out of the way without giving the driver of the car a heart attack, wondering if she/he will add the bird's body to the one already spread on the road?

Sometimes our lives are like the bird situation. The Lord tells us to "call upon Him in the day of trouble" and He will rescue us (Psalm 50:15). I have found that when I call on Him, He does answer and does deliver me from dangers, temptations, situations and circumstances that I get myself into. But more times than not, it seems that He waits until the very last minute to deliver me or provide answers and solutions. Why is that? The Bible says that God makes all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). That seems to be the key....timing.

God's timing is perfect for His purposes. God speaks often in His word of things happening at specific times, appointed times and the fullness of time. (Look up the word time in a concordance, and see.) God speaks often of the fullness of time. We read that Israel could not take the land of Canaan yet, because the time of those inhabiting the land was not complete yet (Genesis 15: 16).

We read that " When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law in order that He might redeem those who were under the law" (Galatians 4:4). We see that "When the days were completed that she (Mary) should give birth, she gave birth to her first born son. (Luke 2:6).

God works in an orderly fashion, with His own specific time table. He wants everything just right for His plans. And His timetable usually does not even resemble ours! Why? He sees the big picture- He sees and knows the beginning from the end, and we only see a finite part of life in the here and now. God does not force Himself on the human heart, but He does allow situations and circumstances that are conducive to our coming to Him. He seeks us; He woos us.

The same is true in our lives when we call on Him. God wants maximum benefit to us from our circumstances, and often will wait until we have exhausted all of our resources in trying to "fix" our problems. We try everything we can do in our lives and troubling situations before we run to the Lord. He is the first one we should turn to. Even when we do turn to God, many times He waits to the last minute to bail us out. Is it to get our attention totally focused on Him? Is it to help us fully express our total trust in Him? Is it to show us (and possibly others) His total, sovereign, absolute POWER over all of creation, even when things seem hopeless or impossibly beyond repair? There is no absolute answer, because the Lord deals with each person on earth as an individual, in a unique way. What we do know is that the Lord invites us to call on Him when we encounter problems, and promises us that He will come to our assistance. Though it may seem that He is waiting until the last possible moment, He will rescue us in the best way at the best time. Like the birds in the road, who escape being road kill themselves by one or two powerful flaps of their wings, our mighty God will snatch us from trials, or surround us with His protective presence through them. Of this you can be sure.