RUTH 1:22 : So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned
from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
According to Business Week, time technicians at the National Institute of Standards & Technology
recently switched to an atomic clock based on the vibrations of cesium atoms. It will take 300,000
years to gain or lose a single second.
But NIST scientists are working on an even better model: a single mercury ion will be trapped in a
vacuum by laser beams and cooled to its lowest possible energy level. The atom’s oscillations will
then be so stable that the new timepiece should be accurate to within one second in ten billion years.
Yet God’s timing is even more accurate than that He brought Naomi and Ruth bad from Moab just as
the barley harvest was beginning. This had a twofold significance. By God’s good timing, they
returned at a season when food would be available for a destitute widow and her daughter-in-law.
The law of gleaning (Lev.19:9; 23:22) allowed the poor to follow the harvesters and gather any stray
stalks of grain. In fact, the corners of the field were to be left deliberately unharvested so the less
fortunate would be provided for.
But it was also perfect timing because, most likely, it was only during the harvest season that Boaz
regularly visited his fields. This provided an occasion for Ruth and Boaz to meet and develop a
relationship.
God’s timing is never off. We may get in a hurry or lag behind, but God is the Master of time. His
plans always take place in the “fullness of the time” (Gal. 4:4). Never a moment too soon or a second
too late, but at the appropriate time He brings about His perfect will.
Trust your time to God. He is a billion times better than an atomic clock. At the right time, He will open
the way for you.
GOD IS NEVER IN A HURRY BECAUSE HE IS IN CONTROL OF TIME.