I have often wondered about God's perfect timing. How much do we trust in it? How much do we rely on it? How much do we attempt to tweak it? I know I am particularly guilty of the last. Way too often, I know what I would like to have happen and when. Yet, it doesn't. I get frustrated. Even thoughts of why bother will sometimes come to mind (oh, that may have been too honest.....oh, well, what's been written cannot be unwritten). I seek Him out, whenever the struggle flairs up again. I have often asked him for encouragement. I've even gone so far as to ask Him to physically manifest himself in such a way that I cannot help but trust His presence. Again, my hands, my will, may way. Happily, He doesn't typically respond to my requests in exactly the manner that I would want Him to. Instead, being sovereign, my Father tends to answer me His way, in His timing, not respecting what I want, but focused on what I need. Thus, Jesus notes for us that even an earthly father who is worth anything would not give a stone when their child asks for a fish.
So, impatiently, I pace, day dream, pray, argue with myself and keep telling myself that I will trust until I actually begin to believe in the trust that I know I want to and should have.
And then there is the enemy. We shouldn't necessarily trust in his "perfect timing" but we sure should trust in his predictable timing. After all, throughout my life, at times of what should be great moments of joy, along will come that one thing designed to derail my joy, take me off of my focus and get me back to a more pliable state of defocused faith, distraction, frustration and possibly even a sense of the "I Quits!". Why oh why do I let him get away with it? My God is so much bigger than him, yet, at times, I am so subject to him in the way I allow myself to get taken off of my focus. Like Peter, in the midst of a great miracle, I move my focus from my Savior, to the wavers. I lose sight of the fact that it is not the wavers who command my Savior. It is my Savior who commands the waves.
Lesson to be learned: know this, that the enemy will not be happy with any victory you have in life, he will show up to distract you and pull your focus, D O N O T L E T T H I S H A P P E N. Keep your eyes fixed, trust in Him who brought you to that place of victory and do not be fooled by the crash and flash of some crow's squawking.
And, the other lesson, maybe worth expanding on later down the line; Don't become the enemy's pawn in someone else's life. How does that happen? When you see them in their moment of victory/celebration, refuse to allow yourself to partake in anything that would take that away. Do not allow yourself to get caught up in such things, but keep your eyes fixed on what matters. In scripture, we are called to a culture of honor, not criticism. We are to be building each other up, not tearing each other down. Yes, constructive criticism can be helpful in order to correct what needs correction. However, the timing of that is crucial as to whether you will actually be speaking life changing truth to a person or death dealing victory crushing.
Each of us has this choice.
