Friday, October 28, 2016
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Our daughter was really in a hurry to get home that night in February, and her aunt wasn't. Her aunt had taken her shopping and was taking her time. One more thing to buy, one more stop, and one more store. By the time our daughter finally got home, she was pretty frustrated. She sort of sputtered as she walked in the front door, only to hear 25 of her best friends shout, "Surprise!" It was her birthday, and yes, it was a surprise! After some oxygen and smelling salts, she began to realize the reason for all those delays. It was all time needed to get her surprise ready. It was worth the wait.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why It's Taking So Long."
Our word for today form the Word of God, we're in Ecclesiastes 3:11. It's a short but very revealing insight into the ways of God in our lives, and possibly into why you're still waiting. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." That same issue of God's timing comes up in Galatians 4:4, where it says, "In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son." In other words, not until everything was ready; not until it would be truly beautiful.
I heard about a pastor whose secretary walked into his office, and she just found him pacing back and forth. When the secretary asked what was wrong, the pastor said, 'I'm in a hurry and God isn't." I get that. We've all been there, huh? And it may describe your life right now. You're asking, "Where is that answer? What's taking so long?"
Answer: God is following a careful process, largely invisible to you, that will bring glory to Him and lasting joy to you. But right now you're like our daughter, wondering what was taking so long. Her surprise wasn't quite ready yet. And maybe yours isn't either. God's taking time to get you ready for the answer! It's very possible God wants to use this waiting time to recreate you into someone who has mountain-moving faith; or who has done some necessary self-examination and said, "Lord, I see now where I need to change"; someone who will take steps in Him that maybe you never would have considered before if what you were waiting for had come.
But God may also be taking time to get the answer ready for you: a person, a position, a place, some needed resources, or an open door. But He is working. Like the flowers that appear suddenly in spring, but not suddenly. No, God's answer will be the result of months of preparation that you can't see. Then one day, boom! There it is.
But if you panic while He's getting everything ready, you're going to ruin the plan and maybe end up with a short-term fix but a long-term mess. If God gave it to you now, it might very well be like a premature baby, and a preemie is never as healthy as full-term.
Trust your Father's timing, even if it seems late. On her birthday, my daughter learned that the delays were only to set up a wonderful surprise. As your Heavenly Father delays your answer, be patient with all the stops and holdups right now. Because at the end of your wait is your Father's wonderful "Surprise!"