The best gifts come at the perfect moment. Too early, and we're not ready to receive them. Too late, and they lose their power. God's timing is always precise—He waits until everything is positioned exactly right, until our hearts are prepared, until the moment of greatest impact. "The fulness of the time" means God sees what we cannot, knows what we need before we ask, and orchestrates circumstances with perfect wisdom. We may plead for immediate answers, but His delays are never denials—they are preparations for something better than we imagined.

Joseph learned this painful lesson in Egypt. Sold into slavery by his brothers at seventeen, he spent thirteen years in bondage and prison—thirteen years of waiting, wondering if God had forgotten him. When Pharaoh's cupbearer was released from prison, Joseph begged him to remember his case before the king. The cupbearer promised—then forgot. Two more years Joseph waited in darkness, his hope fading with each passing season. But when God's moment finally came, it came suddenly and completely. In a single day, Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister, second only to Pharaoh himself. And soon Joseph understood why the timing had been so precise: God had positioned him in power exactly when famine would strike, exactly when his family would need rescue, exactly when his gifts of administration and wisdom would save nations from starvation. If Joseph had been released earlier, he would have missed his purpose. The delay was not cruelty but preparation. Every year in prison was training for the role God had designed him to fill at the exact moment the world needed him most.

Prayer: Sovereign Lord, teach us to trust Your timing even when it tests our patience. Help us to believe that Your delays are purposeful, that You are preparing both the gift and the receiver for the perfect moment of blessing. Amen.