One of the things God is reminding me lately is that there is such a thing as timely grace. I think most of us spend way too much time thinking about possible future scenarios involving us or our loved ones. Or in my case, sometimes obsessively thinking about these things.

It’s easy to get caught up in imagining what we would do if we lost the job or wrecked the car or had a terminal illness in the family. Usually those kinds of thoughts lead to great anxiety as we picture ourselves overwhelmed in such a scenario.

First of all, those what-if cases rarely ever happen. Second, we tend to leave God out when we bring anxiety into the picture where it’s just us trying to figure out what to do and managing it all by ourselves.

Most importantly, we forget one very vital piece of information. In my experience, God will often give you the grace to deal with any of these situations should they ever actually happen. But God doesn’t give you that grace ahead of time. It’s only at the exact moment you need it most that it comes.

Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”.

The problem is that we want to be like Israel in the desert with the manna. We want to hoard and stockpile grace in case it might run out. We want plenty of grace in plenty of time to be prepared. But that’s now how God works.

God knows what we need when we need it. Faith means trusting in God’s timing as much as God’s provision. Seeing God come through in the clutch makes our faith stronger and reminds us that all things really do work together for good because God designed it that way.

“My faith demands that I face the uncertainty of the future in the confidence that in any meeting of affliction, I am held by the tether of God’s grace. My way is well known to my Master, and therefore I walk in confidence. No testing will come that will not be accompanied by sustaining grace. If I failed to believe that, I would be impoverished beyond measure and would deny the truthfulness and example of Scripture. God’s provision has been adequate in the past; it will be adequate in the future. The secret of our courage lies in our confidence that the future is controlled by the providence of a sovereign God” (James Means, A Tearful Celebration).