THE DELAY-Part One

 “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness...”, “I will wait for the LORD...I will put my trust in Him.” 2 Peter 3:9, Isaiah 8:17

As I stopped to catch my breath after my morning run I happened to look at what was left of our flower garden. Considering it was November I wasn’t expecting a lot. : ) However, much to my surprise, there at the end of the garden was a huge, GORGEOUS peach iris! I stopped in my tracks and took a closer look. I snapped a picture of it because it was so beautiful! Of course it was no more lovely than all the other irises that bloomed in May, but I promise you I enjoyed this one so much more; because it was blooming out of season.  Almost immediately Papa whispered to my heart; “The fruit that is awaited the longest is always the sweetest and people’s lives can bloom out of season just like this flower and what is delayed can end up being the loveliest of all!”

That word took my breath away! I teared-up and sat down on the steps and began to look with fresh eyes at all the delays I have experienced in my life. Precious friend I know that you have had them too! Deferred promotions, s-l-o-w-e-d down healings, held up wisdom, postponed releases, overdue “special some ones”, yes the treasured hopes we have waited for for so long...the burning questions left unanswered...the promising dreams that have been out of our reach for so long that they seem to be fading from the clear view of our hearts. When everything within us longs for God to step in and move, but all we hear is the hollow echo of our pacing feet and the ringing sound of our unanswered questions...what then?

We may quote Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them”, however the “good” of delays is sometimes swathed in the shadowy places and we are left to wonder what if anything is happening for our betterment. But there is a saying “Trusting God means trusting in His timing too” and I believe that this is a lesson that we not only need to learn, but one that we must choose to remind ourselves of on a regular basis...because He knows best.

We’ve gotta remember that God doesn’t operate on our timetable. In my 40+ years of loving Papa, I’ve found that His timing and mine rarely agree. Of course He’s always right...but I want things like yesterday! Have you been there? : ) Yet our Father is lovingly, but resolutely moving at His determined pace. Nothing you or I could ever do will “hurry up” God. He fully perceives all aspects of past, present and eternity; we on the other hand only catch glimpses through our tiny window of earthly existence (and even those are filtered through the lens of human frailties and personal life experiences). He is not only the ultimate time keeper; He’s also the Keeper of Time itself! He clearly distinguishes the beginning from the end and He fully realizes what we need and when it’s the best time to release every single blessing.

I guess the question we need to answer is; Will we have confidence in His plan? (including His timing) Honestly though, an even deeper question lurking behind that query is; Will we trust His heart? If we can unreservedly believe His love for us, then the first question becomes a “no brainer”. And think about it, if we can rely on Him as the Captain of our eternal salvation; is He not even more worthy of trust for the temporal details of our earthly existence? i.e. How can He be deemed capable to secure our eternity, but somehow fall short to be entrusted with our earthly hopes and dreams? Truth declares that He is faithful for BOTH!

 Sometimes though we wonder if the delays we experience negate the goodness of Papa’s plan for us...but look at it this way...If someone is throwing a birthday party for you and because of its elaborate design of “amazingness” it has to be pushed back for a few days; does that mean its worth or “goodness” factor is truly diminished just because it came “out of season”? Not by a  l--o--n--g--s--h--o--t! And in a simliar way we have to aggressively trust and envision that the promised good of Romans 8:28 is being actively crafted on a daily basis by our loving Father, even when the days seem d-r-a-w-n out past what stands to human reason!

But when delays drag on, do I ever long to insert my own timetable? You bet! I’d be a liar if I said otherwise, but that’s just my limited perception talking. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to worship a God who can’t out think me in every way! Lol Isaiah 55:8 states speaking of God;  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.” I don’t always see the benefits of delay on my own...BUT if I trust that He loves me and that He allows deferrals for my ultimate good, then there must be some redeeming qualities in the detours we call delay. Later this week we’ll take a peek at the benefits of delay. For today, let us make the quality choice to expect that His all-seeing eye captures the entire vista of the perfect plan He’s crafting for us AND that His loving heart will make certain that not a single blessing escapes us as we dare to willingly submit to the times and seasons of our lives!

Papa God, We know in our heads that You hold our lives safely in Your hands but sometimes when our unanswered questions and the delays to our dreams drag on, it weighs us down and makes it difficult to trust in the perfectness of Your plan...please come and remind our hearts that You are actively working out everything in our life for our eventual good. We trust You but help us trust You more. In Jesus’ Name, Amen