As people began to chat on our early morning shuttle to the airport, Tim and I learned the couple next to us were leaving for Mexico for the second time in two days.
They lived 2 1/2 hours from the airport and woke up at 2:30 a.m. to being the journey to their 7 a.m. flight. They arrived at the parking garage with plenty of time remaining before their flight but soon made an unsettling discovery. They’d left their passports on the kitchen counter.
There would be no travelling to Mexico that day. They rearranged their travel plans, drove the five-hour round trip, and returned to the airport area the same day to stay at a hotel. They didn’t want a 2:30 a.m. alarm to wake them a second day in a row.
It wasn’t a great way to begin a vacation, but someone on the shuttle commented on how they seemed to be handling it. The wife replied, “We weren’t quite this calm yesterday morning.”
When has something been postponed for you, something you’ve been anticipating? A new job. Wedding. Surgery. Home improvement. Retirement. Children. Education.
What was your initial response? How did your response change over time? What did you experience and learn through the postponement process?
Our timing doesn’t usually match God’s timing. I’m a recovering control freak, so I like to imagine I have a bit of control and that I do a pretty good job of planning and preparing. But I’ve come to realize that even if I was the world’s best planner, my expert skills wouldn’t come close to God’s perfect timing. He has a perspective I don’t have. He knows every piece of the puzzle and how to best fit them together for a beautiful, seamless picture.
I’m not inactive in the process. I need to click some of those pieces in place as he reveals them to me, which means I need to pay attention and be sensitive to his leading. God wants me to be active, because he wants a relationship with me. He created me for relationship.
What does God have purposed for you today? I don’t know the specifics, but I know two things for sure.
- Be still and listen.
- Be active. Not just a hearer but a doer of his Word.
God knows your yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows.
You can trust his timing, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Great post Susan. I’m so glad we can trust God’s timing. Later on done the road, His reasoning is sometimes revealed and we are so very thankful for that annoyance that came at the time but usually we don’t know the why’s. We just have to trust and go with the flow.
Amen, Laury. It’s not always easy, because sometimes that “flow” feels like a torrential river…and sometimes it seems like a trickling spring and we’d rather have a bit of adventure, but we often get caught up in our own comfort and wants instead of God’s perfect timing. Thanks for your encouragement!