1 Corinthians 4:1-2 — Gerry Covenhoven

I had made a statement that he had not understood, and he thought that I was expressing certain racist sentiments. We were talking there in chapter 9 concerning the curse of Pantanius. Now, the confusion there comes oftentimes not distinguishing between Ham and Pantanius.

Now, the curse was upon Pantanius, not upon Ham. Ham was the father, one of the three sons of Noah, and then Ham had four sons, and Pantanius was to be a servant of servants, and was to be a servant of Shem and a servant of Jacob.

And we mentioned that Ham is the father of the black races of Aztec. Now, then, this does not mean, then, that Ham and the black races come under the curse. Now, that's not in there, and I didn't say that I did.

I didn't say that they did, but the way I worded it, I guess it looked as though I might have implied that. But of the fourth son, Canaan, his descendants inhabited the land of Palestine, and they then became a degraded people, and the curse did come upon them.

But it was only upon that limited part of the descendants of Ham. Now, then, of course, we know the way some people have taken that curse that Noah pronounced upon Canaan, and have applied it to all of the children of Ham, so that they say that all of the black are an inferior people and things of this nature.

But, of course, that is not in the text at all, and that is not what God says. God says that only Canaan of the children of Ham was to be cursed and his descendants. And that was so because of their degradation, their moral perverseness.

And this was fulfilled, then, in the conquering of the land of Canaan, and the destruction of Canaan from those people, and those people becoming servants of the Israelitic people as they occupied the land, particularly under Joshua, and then under David and under Solomon.

So, then, just clarifying that, in case I left a question much in the minds of some who were here this morning as to exactly what was meant in saying that these descendants of Canaan were cursed. But then I did mention also Ham, and I suppose that some were confused by the crossing between Ham and Canaan in this instance.

Christian Stewardship and Faithfulness

Let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Read verses 1 and 2 here. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Paul says, Let a man so account of us as of the ministry of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. I believe we will all accept the fact that not only such as Paul, an apostle, and other apostles are stewards of God, but that all of us are stewards of God.

All who have been saved by the grace of God are stewards, and are called upon then to be stewards of all that God has given us. And in this stewardship, we are called upon to be faithful. Now, our subject this evening, the title that is given outside, is Touchstones Touching Fidelity.

Fidelity, of course, is faithfulness. Now, this word touchstone, perhaps we can clarify that. A touchstone is, first of all, a stone. It is a black stone that is allied to cement, and it is used to test the purity of gold and silver.

That is, it is a test that used to be used, maybe it's not used now because of other methods that have been developed, but they used to be able to take this black touchstone and rub gold or silver, or what's reported to be gold or silver, on it, and then looking at that touchstone, whatever come off, they could distinguish now as to the purity or lack of purity of the gold or the silver.

So, then, this word touchstone came to be any test or criterion by which a thing is measured as to its quality. So, then, in speaking about touchstones from the scriptures, we would like to look at some things that God uses to measure us by, shall we say.

Things that God uses and brings before us in the scriptures that would measure us as to our fidelity toward Him. Are we faithful? Do we walk with the Lord as we should walk? And I trust that, as we consider these things this evening, the Holy Spirit of God will speak to us in showing us, perhaps, areas in which we fall down, as we'll be considering a number of different areas that I think may be helpful to us.

Paul as a Pattern of Christian Imitation

First of all, we'd like to look at Paul himself as a touchstone. Now, we saw there in chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians that he speaks of himself as a fluid, and that it is required of fluids to be faithful.

Well, in chapter 11 and verse 1, the Apostle Paul says, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. In other words, Paul is telling us, look, follow me.

What you see me do, that do. What you see in me, keep to imitate that. Keep to apply this in your own life. Now, this is a tremendous thing. How many today would dare to say, be imitators of me? And yet, the Apostle Paul could, and it's no boasting.

It's inspiration by the Spirit of God. But the Apostle Paul has such a life, so completely dedicated and faithful to the Lord, that he could say this, an absolutely amazing and daring statement to men.

And yet, I repeat, it is by inspiration that the Apostle Paul wrote this. Well, in considering, then, the Apostle Paul, measuring ourselves by him, to what extent do we measure up? Now, of course, we will not bring in factors that have to do with his apostleship, that peculiar calling that was his, because that would bring him out into a sphere that would not apply equally to all of us.

But let us seek to find some things in the life of the Apostle Paul that I do believe have their application to all of us. Now, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 10, as to what the Apostle said, be imitators of me, as I also am trying to present here, but by the grace of God I am what I am.

And his grace was not bestowed, excuse me, his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. And here we can see the secret of what Paul says is, in his life, working in such a mighty and abundant way that he can say, be imitators of me, even as I also am trying.

What was the secret? Not Paul. Not Paul's learning. Not Paul's faithfulness as such. Not that Paul was one who was better able to apply these things to his life than others. It was simply the grace of God working mightily in him.

Now, that grace is released in every one of us, and in various portions that we're going to consider this evening, we're going to consider this grace, and how this grace wrought mightily in Paul, and can work mightily in us.

This is what the Apostle Paul insinually, in his various letters, what one sees in him can be imitated, can be applied, can be practiced, can be experienced in the life of every born again child of God.

You have no excuse to say, well, Paul was just one who was able to attain that which most Christians just cannot attain. God simply says it is possible for Christians to attain the same as Paul did, insofar as his faithful Christian life was concerned, insofar as his faithfulness to the Lord was concerned, insofar as him being available to the Lord to be used is concerned.

Not that we all have the same gift. Not that we all have the same training. Not that we all have the same calling. But we all have the same grace. And this is a basic underlying factor that we need to keep in mind, and so the Apostle Paul, speaking about all that God was working through him, he says that his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.

We will notice a little bit more about that in just a moment. But, the point is that we have received, all of us, this grace. Now, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, verses 1 and 3, we then, as was us together with him, with God, preach to you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

And, of course, when he says, we teach you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain, it shows that a Christian can receive the grace of God in vain. And he desires that they not receive it in vain.

So, then, here's the thing that Sue and I have to say. It is very possible to be born again by the grace of God. It is very possible to experience the measure of the grace of God working in our lives.

But it is possible, at the same time, to fail to manifest the full manifestation of that grace of God in our lives. And how many times do we have to confess, if we look back at some things in the past in our lives, that we failed the Lord?

Simply because perhaps we did not avail ourselves of the grace of God at the moment. That was not the case. Now, then, in the context, we're looking at verse 4 of the same chapter 6, a word that we all know so well.

For he says, I have heard thee in a time expected, and in the day of salvation have I suffered thee. Behold, now is the expected time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now, this is a beautiful prophecy that comes from Isaiah 49, and in that chapter 49 he's speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, that this word, this quotation from Isaiah 49, is applied first to the Lord Jesus Christ, but then the apostle applies it to Christians in general, because we are in Christ, and that the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man here on earth, was availing himself of that which he had availed himself of as a man.

This is something that I bring out continually, and I think that we need to continually keep in mind as we consider the Lord Jesus Christ, as we will in a moment, more in detail, but as we consider him, we recognize that he was one.

So, he was God manifested in the flesh. All of his deity and all that applied to deity were so completely veiled that he did not utilize his own personal deity and power in his life here on earth. The scriptures are continually teaching us, concerning the life of Christ, that all that he did was through the fulness and power of the Holy Spirit of God in him, the same as you and I need and can do as human beings here in the world.

It was not that the Lord Jesus Christ laid aside his deity, no, for he laid aside the manifestations of his deity, and so his entire life and his whole life here lived in dependence upon God. Now, then, in that connection, the Apostle Paul is taking this, and he's applying this word that was originally given through the Lord Jesus Christ personally, by prophecy, through Isaiah, and he's applying this then to all Christians.

For he said, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I heard thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now, the latter part of this verse is continually thought of in relation to the proclamation of the gospel.

When we proclaim the gospel, which many times we'll tell the unbeliever, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, now is the day that you can be saved. Well, of course, it has that affirmation, but that's not primarily what he's talking about.

What he's talking about, first of all, is today is the day of salvation, when you and I can spread the news of salvation. This is the context. And it is only if you and I do not utilize the grace of God that has been placed at our disposal, that is in us, that has changed us personally, and has chosen us, each of us individually, to be witnesses of the Lord.

And it is only as we do not avail ourselves of that, in other words, we receive the grace of God in him, we do not take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to us there today and we get to use in our lives to present the gospel to you.

But, we receive the grace of God in grace. In not being stressful and giving things away. We receive the grace of God in grace. In not telling those around us what Christ means to us. So many different ways, because today is the day of salvation, and today is the day that we can proclaim God's salvation to the people around us.

God's grace, as might be recalled, will be in the spirit of women. He's addressed Matthew in previous verses, but it is in relation to the gospel message that has been committed here. But then in Philippians chapter 1, we have quite another thing that the Apostle Paul speaks of as being manifested in him, that he wants to be manifested in us.

Suffering as a Gift of Grace

And the Apostle Paul enters a touchstone here in relation to something else. Philippians chapter 1, verses 29 and 30. He says, "'For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same affliction which he saw in me, and now here to be in me.'".

Now, the Apostle Paul is saying, look, I know it's not an easy thing to do. He's right. I know because I have something much more to do than he has. I know because I have suffered many afflictions because of the workings of Christ.

But he says, "'Now it is given unto you, not only to believe in his name, something that God has granted to us as a favor, but also to suffer an affliction for his name.'". And you think, well, now this is a very strange favor that he seems to be recalling, doesn't it?

That God would grant unto us to suffer for his name's sake. And yet, isn't it the trial, the fire that purifies the gold and the silver? And God knows that this sort of thing is necessary in order to purify us, as well.

And God knows that if we're to enter into a rich inheritance in his presence, and enter into it in all of its fullness, in the way that he desires for us, there must be purifying in our lives. And one of our troubles today is that we are afraid to suffer and to experience tribulation for the glory of Christ.

We live in a society of ease. Even in this day, it is, well, it's a common thing. It's a thing that everybody is talking about, to be a Christian. To prevent the so-called evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures, for we believe the Bible to be the divinely inspired Word of God, and we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, in shedding his blood upon the cross, made atonement.

And so we need to submit ourselves to him and trust him as our Lord and Savior in order that we might be saved. This is the message that we preach. But, you know, there are some people that will talk about this message.

And some people that will make us suffer because of this message. But it is granted unto us. It is a thing that God, in his grace, has granted to us, that in witnessing for him, there will be some who will talk in order that we might be purified from those things which will hinder us in our Christian life and in our ability to appreciate the blessings of God in us.

There was conflict involved. There were things that he suffered for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says that it is granted unto us, it's given on behalf of Christ, to suffer for his sake. I believe he's brought this out in the past, that this idea of something for the sake of Christ really means for the love of Christ.

If we truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be willing to stick our necks out for him and to suffer for him and to experience any sort of conflict because of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when we receive what he says he means.

Paul's Thorn in the Flesh and Strength in Weakness

But then, moving on to another aspect of things in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning at verse 7, 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7, the Apostle Paul now has a touchstone in an entirely different area, not simply in the area of gospel witness and testifying for Christ, but here in another area.

The Apostle Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 12, 7, "...unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan should bucket me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

For this thing I besought the Lord's strength, that it might depart from me. He said unto me, My strength is sufficient for thee, for my strength, the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ, is made perfect in business.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, then am I strong.". The paradox of the 59th. Lived by the grace of God. When I am weak, then I am strong. But here the Apostle Paul is dealing mainly, though he applies this in virtually every area of life, he's dealing mainly with this thorn in the flesh.

What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? Well, happily, the Bible doesn't say. Some think it was a sickness. Some think it was especially eye-sickness, because of what he says to the Galatians. He says, "...when I was among you, why, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me, if it were at all possible.".

And then he ends up that little letter by saying, "...here is what large leprosy I bring unto you.". And so he was suffering from some kind of eye sickness. Whether that was it or not, we have no way of really knowing.

Others think it was malaria, and they think that Paul was suffering from the current attacks of malaria, which certainly in his missionary travels he had gone through lands that even to today are malarial lands.

And so he may have been suffering with it during his time of serving the Lord. But it may not have been a particularly physical infirmity. It might have been a real infirmity. It might have been something quite different.

Of course, we don't know. But it was anything that on the natural realm, on the material realm, would be limiting to him. It was something that allowed Paul to assert his personality, and his drive, and his intelligence.

It was something that made Paul remember, Paul, you're a sibling of sin. You're a vessel to be filled. You are one whom God wants to send, and you. But it's not going to be continually dwelling upon these wonderful revelations he's done.

It's going to be directly puffed up with pride. And so that anything that would puff one up to think more of themselves than they ought to think, it needs some kind of a soul in the flesh in order to bring one down and low before the Lord in order that we might be cast entirely upon Him, and recognize that indeed we have all things, but in itself we have nothing.

From here, now, many Christians do suffer from different afflictions. And what do we say concerning these afflictions? Do we chafe under them? Do we say, well, now why do I have to have this affliction when hardly any of the other Christians have similar afflictions?

And is there a dissatisfaction with God's dealings with us? But measuring ourselves by Paul as a test subject, he would say, the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ came to me and said, my strength is made perfect in these things.

So Paul said, therefore I'll glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You know, that's a tremendous attitude to take. Frankly, I haven't had to go through things like that. I mean, I suppose I've had my share of sickness, but nothing chronic, nothing that has continually gotten me down.

And yet there are some of the saints of God that have suffered from such things as arthritis, not only in their old age, but even as younger people, and continual pain day after day after day. And what does this mean to them?

That some of them have really learned to glorify the Lord in their faith, as the Apostle Paul learned to glorify the Lord in his Ephesians, recognizing that here, too. In fact, in Ephesians, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is not entirely sufficient for all of his needs.

As a test subject, this is something else that we need to keep in mind. But then another thing that I'd like to mention concerning the Apostle Paul here in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, something that is not quite so obvious on the surface of things, but 2 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning at verse 12, he says, Coming to the city of Provence, God gave him an open door, and he was a wonderful opportunity that the Apostle Paul had for serving the Lord.

But what did he do? Did he stay in Provence? Did he take advantage of that open door? No, he says, I had no rest, and now I'm here. Because I shall not pities my brothers, but taking leave of them, abandoning this open door, he says, I went from Pension to Macedonia.

But what did he say? I failed the Lord. I am discouraged. I did the wrong thing. More, he says in verse 14, Now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Paul, by the grace of God, was an optimist.

He was a man that could look at things that, although it turned out that it was entirely unnecessary for him to abandon this open door, as we will explain in just a moment, it turned out to be entirely unnecessary, he wasn't going to bemoan the fact that he had abandoned an open door.

He says, God always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now then, just to tie in a few loose threads here, in chapter 7 of this famous epistle, he gives us a few more details as to what happened, beginning here at verse 5.

Christian Optimism in the Midst of Trials

Second Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 5. He says, For when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side, without were fighting, within were fears. Nevertheless, God, that comforted those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of tidings, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us, Your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoice no more.

Now, let's tie these things together, and piece together exactly what had happened. Paul had written the first letter to the Corinthians, what we have as First Corinthians today. And you're probably very familiar with the fact that that letter is filled with a lot of corrections.

Paul had to call the Corinthians to task because of divisions, because of different manifestations of carnality, because of sin in their midst, because they were fighting amongst each other, taking their brother to law, because of various things in their midst, and an incorrect way in conducting the Lord's supper.

Just any number of things he had to correct them. A very corrective epistle. And the tone of it is really rather severe. If you were in the place of the Corinthians, how would you have responded to receiving this letter when he tells you, Look, you're doing wrong in this and that, and the other thing?

And he goes right down the list, and you find yourself just open up wide to a lot of, well, it may not be right to call it fault-finding, but he was finding fault with him. How were they going to receive that letter?

Were they going to receive it in a humble spirit, acknowledging it as the word of God, and correct these faults in their midst, or were they going to rebel against the Pope? Paul sent this letter by the hand of Titus.

Titus took it through them, and Titus relayed in coming back to Paul and telling Paul what was the reaction. So when Paul was in Troas, and there was an open door for him for the proclamation of the gospel, Paul says, Well, Titus certainly should have been back by this time.

Something must have gone wrong. I don't know if he thought that or not, but anyway, he took leave over the next Troas, and he went into Macedonia to find Titus, and he found Titus, as we read in chapter 7, and he found tremendous consolation in Titus, because it wasn't only the consolation he found in Titus in finding him, it was also the news that Titus brought concerning the Corinthians, that the Corinthians had humbled themselves and had accepted that letter as the word of God.

But Paul says, Even though my leaving Troas was something that was not at all necessary, nothing was gained by it, except that I personally was relieved a little bit sooner, although I abandoned an open door, Christ always leads us in triumph.

Now, can you and I say that in the midst of certain things that come into our minds when we think, I made a mistake? When we think, as the young people say today, I blew it? I did the wrong thing. I should have done a certain thing, but I was overly anxious, and I did the other thing, which turned out to be the wrong thing.

I wasn't walking in the will of God. But can we turn around and say, But God always leads us in triumph. Now, this is the Christian optimistic attitude that I think we can take as we take Paul as a touchstone and say, Well, if the Apostle Paul could say a thing like that under such circumstances, I can say a thing like that under similar circumstances as well.

In other words, if we are pessimists, we are not taking the Christian attitude. We're not measuring up to this touchstone that we have. Now, I know that some people, just by nature, are more inclined to be pessimists than other people.

And some people, by nature, are more inclined to be optimists than other people. But you and I have the nature of Christ, and so we can be optimists in the midst of this world in which we live. And they can't then give up to manifest this holy optimism.

Grace Revealing Christ in the Believer

Then, one other thing that will lead us on to our next point in Galatians, chapter 1. Verse 15, the Apostle Paul says, But when it reached John, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, here we are back to this original thought of grace, to reveal his Son in me, he called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me.

Now, I believe that that is how John is called, isn't it? Every person called by the grace of John and sent by that grace has been called to know that John's Son has been revealed to them. And certainly, as we read the language of Apostle Paul, we can say, yes, Jesus Christ was manifested, was revealed in Paul.

To what extent? Jesus Christ was revealed in Paul. To what extent are we being imitators? Are we following the Apostle Paul? We have his writings, and we recognize the divine inspiration in these writings, and we would defend these writings against any others that would seek to say, well, Paul made a mistake in this, and Paul wasn't right in that, and the other thing.

We would defend them. We defend them by our lips. Are we willing to defend them by our lives? Are these things manifested in our lives? And is Christ manifested in our lives? But then this leads us to consider not only the Apostle Paul as a testimony, but to consider also the Lord Jesus Christ himself as a testimony.

Learning Christ's Meekness and Dependence on the Father

This morning we made reference to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 11, both blessed words of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he said, Come unto me, all ye that labor in a heavy laden cry, I will give you rest. And he goes on to say, Take my rope upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest in your home.

Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ says, Take my rope upon you, and learn of me, to put this into other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, Look, get yoked up with me, and learn to walk as I walk. As it says in 1 John, Chapter 2, that we should walk even as we walk.

And we should imitate the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. Taking his yoke upon us and learning of him is the life of discipleship, but even beyond that, it is the life of a Christlike life. And as we walk this life of discipleship and a Christlike life, he says, we find rest unto our souls.

But what was this yoke? Now, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, Take my rope upon you. It's not only the idea that we are to be yoked with him as a yoke of oxen, he on one side and we on the other, going at the speed that he takes us at, learning of him continually, but it is also the idea that, as we are to be yoked with him, he was yoked with his father.

And the Lord Jesus Christ, then, was yoked with his father in his life here, doing all that his father led him to do and saying all that his father led him to say. So, we're considering the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in this life.

We have, first of all, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I speak not of my son, but that which I hear, that I speak. That which he heard from his father. Whether it was through the Old Testament scriptures or the voice of the Holy Spirit conveyed to him directly, the word of his father, this was what the Lord Jesus Christ said.

How often do we speak simply out of ourselves, our own opinion, not seeking to speak as representing the Lord Jesus Christ, not looking for divine guidance in what we say, but we simply speak the words that have come from the top of our hands.

But if we are to be truly joyful with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will seek to do that in our lives, what he did in his relationship with the Father. He spoke only that which the Father spoke to him, and so he, in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, should only speak that which he saw God speak.

And then another thing, you remember that the Lord Jesus Christ, in John chapter 4, says that he went from Jerusalem, from Judea into Galilee, and he must need go to Samaria. Now, that, for a Jew, was a very strange thing.

He must need go to Samaria. Every other Jew would have said, he must need go around Samaria, not to Samaria, because of the enmity that existed between the Samaritans and the Jews. But he must need go to Samaria, and the Lord Jesus Christ had to go to Samaria.

Why? Because there was a woman and there was a whole city there that needed crying, and his salvation. And through meeting that woman, and in her testimony to the townsfolk, and the townsfolk coming out and listening to the Lord Jesus Christ, why, a whole town was converted to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And they said, now we believe, not just because you told us, but now we've heard him and we've seen him ourselves. But the Lord Jesus Christ had to do that, because his Father was leading them to go to that place, to contact that woman and those people, to bring the gospel message to them.

Do we ever find ourselves under a compulsion from above to go to someone and to speak to them concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we ever find ourselves under a compulsion from above to open our mouths and speak as a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ in whatever circumstance we might find ourselves?

The Lord Jesus Christ continually had that inner compulsion as the Father was leading him along. And this is one thing that he would say, that we indeed walk with him through the Lord with him. And as the Lord Jesus Christ had to go to Samaria, so we might have to go in what ordinarily would be difficult and trying circumstances for us, but in order to lead.

And then in John chapter 7 we read about his brothers at the time of the Feast of the Sabbinac who said, well now look, any man that wants the name of the people shows himself openly. If what we hear about you is really true, why go on up to the Feast and show yourself openly.

And the Lord Jesus Christ said, no, you go on up, because your time is over. But my time has not yet come. And he carried there where he was while his brothers went on up to the Feast. But then later, he did go up to the Feast.

And you see, when he said, my time has not yet come, it was, well all right, I know that the Father wants me to go to the Feast, but he doesn't want me to go now. It was the time element, when was he to go, that was the important thing.

And here's another thing that we need to learn from the Lord Jesus Christ. A certain thing may be the right thing, but it may not be the right time to do that thing. Maybe we should do it a little bit sooner than we had anticipated, or a little bit later than we had originally thought.