TIMING: PART 2

This post was started on my other blog in response to a weekly challenge I usually participate in, called Five Minute Friday, where we are given a word prompt and then free write about it for five minutes. 

Friday's word was "Timing." However, I ran out of time before I could even get to these thoughts, so this is sort of a Part 2.

The original post was about the consequences of missing God's timing. (You can click here if you are interested in reading it.) Situations change, and opportunities pass by, which is why it is so important to be sensitive to spiritual promptings and be quick to obey them.  

What I had wanted to include, but didn't, was a lesson I learned the hard way about the need to be patient and trust in God's timing. The need to remember that He sees the whole picture, which I do not, that His thoughts and His ways are far superior to mine, and that His timing is always perfect.

It didn't happen through just one incident, but it was one incident that brought home most dramatically, the fact that God's thoughts are not my thoughts, and His plans unfold according to His divine schedule--not according to my preferenes and expectations. It was an incident that totally turned my life upside down.

Back in the day, I was all about trying to make testimonies happen. I would second guess what the Lord was doing in my life--or about to do--and when it wasn't happening when and how I thought it should, I would try and help Him speed things along. What it most often did instead, was mess things up and cause me to miss out on something much better He had in mind.

This particular incident happened at a time in my life when I was feeling quite settled and content, and no longer looking for a relationship. My out-of-town boss unexpectedly proposed to me and offered me what sounded like the job of my dreams if I relocated. I had mixed feelings. 

Though I enjoyed my independence and being able to come and go as I pleased, it also felt nice to have someone think I was special and seem genuinely concerned about my wellbeing. Someone who convinced me he was a man of integrity whose word could be banked on. That was a novel experience. Me being pursued by who I thought was a mature, trustworthy, responsible Christian man. 

I prayed for the Lord to close all doors if this wasn't from Him, but at the same time, I tuned out all the little checks in my spirit, and the little red flags the still small voice within me was trying to bring to my attention. I saw only what I wanted to see, and heard only what I wanted to hear, and when both his pastor and mine gave us their blessing, I reasoned that it was a sign of the Lord's blessing as well.

All I could think of was what an awesome testimony this would turn out to be. My friends all seemed to agree with the awesome testimony part as well--except for one, who warned me not to be so hasty. I did not listen. 

Instead, I tried helping the Lord bring things to pass more quickly, by accepting my landlord's offer to pay me for vacating my apartment, closing my business, giving away most of my possessions, and getting ready to move.

When all my bridges had been burned behind me, I discovered my friend was not being a killjoy. Her warning had been well founded.

There was no job, there was no marriage, and there was no turning back. Just one big slice of humble pie, along with confirmation that God's word is the only word that can be banked on 100 percent of the time.

By God's mercy and grace, things eventually turned around for my good and His glory, but not before my pride had been chipped away, and many more lessons learned.