Trusting God's Timing

I am always fascinated by movies that deal with time travel where the protagonist travels back in time to change a series of events to safeguard the future. Watching these movies gives me a sense of control knowing that if things did go wrong in my life, how nice it would be to enter a time machine and simply undo them.

One of the biggest struggles in my Christian walk has been on the issue of God’s timing. I noticed that the timelines I had calibrated in my mind about the timing of certain events and God’s timelines of those very events never seem to match. For starters, I had hoped to be married by the age of 25 but here I am still single in my mid-thirties. As days pass into years, I am left wondering if this season will ever change.

God is sovereign and His promises in His word are true. God is the God of all comfort and Father of all mercies and yet, here I am struggling when it comes to the question of His timing.

I know that God has graciously placed me in this extended season of singleness and there is a purpose which He is fulfilling at the moment. I have experienced the joy of walking close with Christ, spending uninterrupted time in His word and in prayer and grow in my Christian faith. I have been able to meet up with friends for a cup of coffee or babysit my friends’ kids on a day’s notice. It was in a minuscule way of learning to die to self. At work, God provided many opportunities to witness for Christ. These are things that I will never trade for anything else.

I am reminded of Abraham and Sarah who waited and waited for the promise to be fulfilled. I love how it says in Romans 4:18 “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

One of my favorite promises in Scripture that helps me stay grounded is from Jeremiah 29:11 “  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

God wants me to trust Him completely and that includes my season of singleness. Somehow, my gaze is always fixed on the uncertainty of my situation than in the unchanging nature of God. I need to see God as my loving Heavenly Father who in His infinite wisdom has allowed my singleness to last for a long season. It is futile on my part to cling to my understanding of when this season should change.

True joy is found in the Person of Christ, not in my changed status.

It is so rightly said in the book of Ecclesiastes: “For everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Of Hopes and Umbrellas

Summer was coming to a close and how expectantly I was looking to the skies in the hope of rains to come down. But no rains, not even a drop! It was hot and dry and the sun was happy to welcome me every single afternoon. (My work would end at 3pm.)

We were already in the middle of June and still no sign of rains. So I was in two minds about carrying an umbrella. Why bother lugging this thing around when the weather folks predicted the delay of rains?

But there was something in me that I carried my umbrella every single day. My logic: it’s the rainy season and it will rain. Maybe not today, but it will rain. Days turned to weeks and the weeks into a month. No rains at all. But I carried my umbrella as planned. I was hopeful that it would rain. C’mon, a delay doesn't mean that it wouldn't rain at all.

                                   

One day when least expected, it rained. And how it rained! I was so excited to pull out my umbrella and finally be able to use it. Folks on the road were caught off guard. But I wasn't, coz I knew it would rain and when it did, I was ready!

Sometimes I think of the” things” I am waiting for. Waiting expectantly and hoping that today would be the day. Especially if you have been praying about it and waiting expectantly on the Lord to answer your prayers. I think of Habakkuk who went to the watch tower and waited for God‘s answer. 

So here I am waiting upon God to answer in much hope and anticipation.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.” Psalm 62:1

Waiting

I have always wondered why waiting is such a tiring experience. Is it because waiting slows down things? Or is it my perception that waiting causes a delay for whatever I am waiting for? Sometimes, this impatience that grows within me is a result of the world I live in. You can get everything—practically everything in a jiffy. Click the mouse and you have paid the bills! We live in a world of instant gratification. We don’t have the time to wait…patiently.

In the light of hurried living and busyness, I am glad in a way that God calls me to wait. To wait upon Him for the things I have asked in prayer. It is in this period of waiting I am called to exercise faith in who God is and His ability to bring about what I have asked for. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

God knows what He is about. It is my own foolishness or the result of leaning on my own understanding that I tend to become impatient. He is wise and does all things according to the counsel of His will. I am called to trust Him and His timing.

Waiting requires courage and strength of soul. Hence the psalmist in the Bible encourages us “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalms 27:14)

So, if you are in the period of waiting upon God, take heart. God is good and loves you and desires that you know Him better in this time of stillness. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Waiting Upon God

Waiting upon God is good for my soul. And to remember that when I do wait upon Him, He will renew my strength and I shall mount up with wings like eagles! My soul is refreshed in my God! His word gives me hope.

"Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    and my right is disregarded by my God”?

 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might He increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:27-31

All in Good Time!-2

Continuing with the thought I mentioned in my previous post about God making all things beautiful in His time, I felt the need to expand more.

 I have realised waiting is such a part of our lives.But how do we wait? Expectantly or reluctantly?? Unfortunately, we live in a world of instant gratification where everything, practically everything is available to us with the press of a button. Please hear me out! I am not against technology or the blessings it has brought to humankind, but I can’t fail to notice the downfall of it either.

Where is the sense of waiting expectantly for a letter or the joy of cooking that involves time and labor? I guess, in this world of mad rush and the constant noise we have engulfed ourselves in, it is good to wait joyfully! And in that joyous wait to actually see how God makes all things beautiful in His time.

Yes, this is what I want to talk about; to be able to observe in that wait how He makes all things beautiful. Dear friends, we live in a world that appears mundane in appearance. We follow the same routine every day and yet in the midst of this, by God’s grace we can be enlightened to see the beauty of how our Creator orchestras all events to accomplish His perfect will.  “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Says the book of Job (Bible)

Waiting

 “Men trust God by risking rejection. Women trust God by waiting.”
― Carolyn McCulley

Waiting for something?

How many of us like to wait? Well, you must be wondering why am I asking this question. But, think for a second? Do you like to wait? Now this actually depends on the circumstances you are in. If I were to speak for myself, I don't like to wait for practically anything. Waiting in a queue or waiting for something to happen. Sheesh, sometimes it is tormenting!!

But, the other day while I was watching a cookery based show on Discovery Travel and Living, a remark made by a famous chef left me stunned. He said something to the effect of “I like to wait. Waiting is good, beautiful...like waiting for the love of a woman.” That was something significant! In some sense when you receive something for which you have waited for a long time, your happiness knows no bounds!! Waiting teaches you patience, makes you grateful for the object you waited for.

Think about food for a minute. Food that takes hours to be prepared and when it is finally set on the table and when you sink your teeth into the first morsel, what do you experience? Bliss!!! What else??

When you have waited long at the bus stop and you catch a glimpse of the bus afar, don't you give a sigh of relief?Waiting has taught me to be grateful....taught me to be patient...and to appreciate all that comes along especially after a long time.

We as humans are extremely impatient about practically everything and this “waiting” instills in us a kind spirit of anticipation of the object we wait for. Think of an expectant mother. A student waiting quietly for the results to be announced. There is silence, quietness and a heart to receive whatever may befall. Waiting teaches us humility in a way that reminds that nothing is in our hands. We are not in control of our lives. Think of the gardener. He has to wait patiently for the rains to fall and the seed to grow into a plant and for it to bear fruit in due season!

This is what I would say for those who are in the season of waiting. Waiting to grow up, waiting to go to college, waiting to get married, waiting to bear children...whatever it may be...Remember one thing, waiting is good! Enjoy this season with grace!!