Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Enduring God’s Faithful Timing


“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.”
— Psalm 69:13 (NRSV)
“God has perfect timing; never early, never late. It takes a little patience and it takes a lot of faith, but it’s worth the wait.”
— Author Unknown
Always precise, never late, and a joy to behold,
Is the timing of the Lord’s purpose, from the beginning to the end.
Through such a thing as life, time’s used to mould,
The characters of humanity, if souls, to God, will bend.
Testing patience and endurance so as not, before time, to fold,
God’s power in mortal weakness, made available, to lend.
From beginning to end, through the corpus of time, the Lord’s enrolled,
Humanity to the course of study known as ‘The Only Way to Fend’.
Again we hear it, and we’re destined again, if we’re bold,
To surrender human capacity to the Lord, all flesh to rend.
Going against God’s timing is folly we’re told,
For faith will supply, so God’s faithfulness can for us mend.
The precision of the Lord’s timing is gold,
And it’s the faithful who’ve received who God can send.
Accepting Life’s Current Situation
If we are to do anything about God’s timing of satisfactory means we must trust in the present moment, holding our hopes aloft before the throne of God while simultaneously enjoying, as much as it is possible, the intervening time.
Enjoying the present moment is sometimes too much for us, but if we are aware how important it is to trust God in this way, God will give us the power to hold on patiently.
Acceptance is a great power because it abides by obedience in God. Maturity is made golden to the colour of acceptance. When we can accept our current situation, nobly, we are prepared all the more to wait, to be blessed, and to be the purveyor of joy—no matter what.
Going to What Provides Hope: The LORD Every Time
The provision of hope can never be underestimated. We know we need hope when we feel helpless in the journey of time, seeing little of the promise coming to fruition; little or no chance of it.
To enjoy our current situations we need access to hope; we need to go to what provides hope; we hope in God, even despite the lack of visibility for blessing.
Trusting God’s timing is generally a tortuous exercise; let’s not mince our words.
But, with hope beyond what we can see—for true hope exists with no vision of hope—we have a way of enduring patiently, one day at a time. The journey is bound to ebb and flow, to take us through the winding valleys and the occasional hilltops, in between lots of surprising hairpin bends, frustrating chicanes, and gorgeous views.
***
The harder the meandering journey is, the more tremulous the valleys, the more wondrous is the experience of God’s faithful timing in bringing the hope we have to pass. God is faithful and he will do this thing.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.

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