I have a new best friend. It is my kitchen timer. My new chum has performed miracles here at my house this week, our first week back to school at home. I love it. I wind my new partner up, and he clicks away the seconds until we move to a new activity. Even Emily seems to be in to it a bit…
I set the timer and she reads as much as she can. Or, she finishes her math, or works on her geography map. that kind of thing. It can make all of the chores feel a bit like a game. However, she does not like our new friend so much when he declares that it is time for something she doesn’t like – or worse if he tells us when something she likes a lot is over.
This small kitchen gadget does exactly what he is supposed to do; he’s always right on time. But, Emily, she’s young and fickle. She doesn’t understand the value of this new friend and the work he does.
I have another timer. He knows exactly what I need and fulfills His will for my life, right on time. never inaccurate. never late. Sometimes I feel as though circumstances keep me too long, and the trial of waiting is unbearable. Other times it seems that I have had to wait far too long for something to come to fruition.
But that is not the case.
My Heavenly Father is the ultimate time keeper. He knows the framework of my life, every second of it. There is not one minute unaccounted for. But I do not value this intricate work in my life as much as I should. I’m immature and fickle; I don’t appreciate it.
It is no coincidence then, that I began memorizing James 1. I didn’t do it on purpose – but, I believe He ordained it, because He knows how much I need to learn this:
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Patience is not waiting around for God to do what I want. Patience is waiting for Him to do what He wants, and when. That is perfection. I am the antithesis of perfection. In one very particular instance I have been waiting, asking for faith, pleading for wisdom, all the while insisting that God do something right away – on my timeline. The fact remains: when I am unsure that His timing is best, when I’m unwilling to give up my own ideas, that is a sign of my doubt. – and I become a wave of the sea… confused and frustrated, completely unstable. All patience is lost, with faith and wisdom no where to be found.
What could possibly be the good news in this situation? I can only tell you what I’ve been learning these last few days. He is a loving and good Heavenly Father who is unable to do anything less than what is the very best for me. And in this terribly trying time, when I am unable to see the full timeline of my future history, He is patient with me. He cares for me and gently sets my feet in the right direction, and draws my heart to His.
Heavenly Father, With my whole heart I am grateful for your patience and faithfulness to me, even when I am unable to respond the right way. Help me to believe without wavering that Your timing is best, and let me act on it. Thank you for the enduring love You have shown to me.
amen.
daily portion 