The Timing

Sometimes I have a hard time getting God’s timing. I get it when things go my way. Then it’s easy for me to totally buy into His Holy Spirit revealing as much truth to me as I can handle. I know God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. That means God is awesome, has the whole world in His hands, and can do anything He wants to. Unlike me, He is not confined by time or space. But nevertheless, I still wonder about it. And sometimes I even try to challenge God’s timing.

The near misses and complete misses mystify me. I read God saying, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future.” Thank you very much, God! But why, then, didn’t You somehow nudge me back in college toward majoring in broadcast journalism so I could turn out polished, poised, confident, and amazing like Diane Sawyer? I mean seriously, God, in high school I prayed for the confidence to speak to more than two people at a time. I was shy and felt like I had nothing to say.

It took God a long time to bring me to the point where I would have something important to say when the courage finally arrived. St. Paul spoke to me when he wrote, “They compared themselves with themselves and they were not wise.” I was guilty of such comparisons in my admiration of Diane Sawyer. I remember reading an interview with her in Guideposts magazine many years ago, an interview about being a Miss America contestant. She related how one of my mentors, the awesome writer Catherine Marshall, spoke to the finalists. Her steel blue eyes sparkling, she commended them for the heights to which they had risen with hard work and application of their gifts, but then she pierced their hearts, saying they were aiming too low and they needed to reach higher. God had great plans for them to use what He had given them from then on. It caught Diane Sawyer off guard and made a huge impression on her. It did the same for me when I read it.

I guess it’s really about ability more than opportunity. The Bible once again guides us here. In 1 Peter 4:10, it says, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Looking back over my meandering life, my transition from a shy and envying girl to a woman serving Christ boldly has been an up-and-down journey. I’ve asked and received His forgiveness for stubbornly heading off on my own way, only to reach a dead end and return to Him again. I treasure the wisdom of age and experience He has given me. I ended up being His workhorse instead of a beauty pageant winner with the right words, but it’s working well. I am filled to overflowing with His Words that bring life and hope on the air, in person, and in print. That’s enough for me!

What has it taken for God to get your attention and earn your trust so that you follow Him instead of taking the lead? Have you shared your story with someone else? If you’d like to, please share it with me. There’s no right or wrong story here. It’s about your experience, where you’ve been, and where you are now. It’s also about trusting where God will take your life. Wow!