“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…” (Psalm 37:7 NIV)
You snap the photo just as the key play is made or as the colors of the sunset are most vibrant. You submit the application as a vacancy occurs for a job requiring the exact credentials we possess. Or when you’re on vacation, you pull off the highway minutes before a nasty storm and register for the last room the hotel has available that night. Some would call it luck; others might say it was just perfect timing. Whatever it was, you’re just glad it happened that way. But what about when it doesn’t? What happens if we have to wait or if our plans are altered? I remember once checking into the gate at an airport to be told that my flight had been overbooked and that I was on standby. Even though I tried to be courteous, I insisted that I needed to get home. I am sure that I appeared frustrated, impatient, and perhaps less than gracious while efforts were being made to acknowledge my reservation and get me home in a timely manner. In the hustle and bustle of our hectic lives, we often find it difficult to wait for anything or anyone. We want what we want, and we want it now.
It’s always an uplifting occasion as the weekend arrives when we set the clocks ahead to begin Daylight Savings Time. No matter what’s happening outside with the weather – the days will now seem to be longer, and we know that Spring is just around the corner. Most of the clocks in my house are electric, but I do have one that instead can be erratic. It is a battery-powered atomic clock that resets itself. When I wake up the morning after a time change, it will have successfully gained or lost an hour depending whether it’s spring or fall. But just as I think it’s up and running the way it should, it will suddenly adjust itself again and the timing will be totally off. Precise timing is hard to achieve with most things in life. I am so glad that we have a God whose timing is always perfect, even though we might not always think so. Charles Stanley says: “When we surrender to His timing, He does mighty things in and for us, according to His will and His timing. God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”
Three friends of Jesus were caught up in a timing issue. They were sisters Mary and Martha as well as their brother Lazarus, all known to Jesus. Lazarus became ill, and the sisters sent word to Jesus about their brother’s failing condition. When Jesus received the news, He intentionally waited where He was for several more days (John 11:5-6). By the time Jesus arrived, scripture tells us that Lazarus had died and was already in the grave for four days (John 11:17). A grieving Mary said to Jesus that she knew if He had been there that her brother would not have died (John 11:32) and Martha states that even so, she is confident that God will do whatever Jesus asks of Him (John 11:22). The event provides opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate that He was who He claimed to be, as He indeed raises Lazarus from the dead. He also sends a clear message that God will be glorified for all those who have faith and wait on Him
We can rest assured that our heavenly Father knows exactly where we are in our lives and what we need at every moment. He allows us to sometimes walk down a difficult path in order to develop patience (Galatians 5:22) and draw us closer to Him. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in his keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9 NIV). God knows the big picture, not the one where the timing of events makes no sense and seems impossible for us. It’s our job to cross the finish line, trusting Him with each step. We need to stop trying to figure out all of the details and simply let God be God. And if, by chance, we are someday able to look back and reflect on the journey – we will affirm with all certainty: “That was perfect timing. It was exactly the way it was supposed to be.”
REFLECTION: Do you become frustrated when it seems like your prayers have not been answered? Are there times that you have found that waiting for an answer turns out to be the best direction for where you are in your journey? Can you remember a time when a period of waiting provided spiritual growth as you found yourself drawing closer to Him?
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