In the right place at the right time

501 in the right place at the right timeAt a prospecting meeting in one of our stores, a clerk shared her strategy with me: “You have to be in the right place at the right time.” I figured that strategy was certainly on track. However, it's all easier said than done. I've been in the right place at the right time a number of times - for example when I was walking on the beach in Australia and came across a group of people who had just spotted whales. Just a few days earlier I had been able to observe a rare bird, the Laughing Hans. Wouldn't you love to always be in the right place at the right time? Sometimes it happens by accident, other times it's an answered prayer. It's something we can neither plan nor control.

When we are in the right place at the right time, some people attribute it to a constellation and others just call it luck. People of faith like to call such a situation "God's intervention in our lives" because they believe that God was involved in the situation. An intervention of God can be any situation that appears that God has brought either people or circumstances together for good. “But we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8,28). This well-known and sometimes misunderstood verse does not necessarily mean that everything that happens in our lives is guided and controlled by God. However, he urges us to look for the best even in difficult times and tragic circumstances.

When Jesus died on the cross, his followers also wondered how this horror experience could bring about something good. Some of his disciples went back to their old lives and worked as fishermen because they had resignedly come to the conclusion that death on the cross meant the end of Jesus and his mission. During those three days between death on the cross and resurrection, all hope seemed to be lost. But as the disciples found out later and we also know it today, nothing was lost with the cross, but everything was gained. For Jesus, death on the cross was not the end, but only the beginning. Of course, God had planned from the start that something good would come out of this seemingly impossible situation. It was more than just accident or God's intervention; it was God's plan from the start. All of human history led to this turning point. He is the central point in God's great plan of love and salvation.

Jesus was in the right place at the right time and that's why we're always right where we are. We are exactly where God wants us to be. In and through him we are securely embedded in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Loved and redeemed by the same power that Jesus raised from the dead. We don't have to worry about whether our life is worth anything and makes a difference on earth. No matter how hopeless the circumstances around us seem, we can be sure that everything will work out for the best because God loves us.

Just as the women and disciples desperately gave up hope during these three dark days, we too sometimes dissolve into despair about our own lives or the lives of others because there seems to be no hope in sight. But God will dry every single tear and give us the happy ending we long for. All of this only happens because Jesus was in the right place at the right time.

by Tammy Tkach


pdfIn the right place at the right time