Not Yet, Just Right, Too Late

With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  2 Peter 3:8       Loosely translated, this verse says, God has perfect timing – never early – never late.  God is never in a hurry but He is always on time.                   

When we entertain friends at our house, the planning, set up, grocery shopping and cooking of sides is my job.  The grilling of the meat is Randy’s job.  Although there are things that we do well together. coordinating the grilling with the rest of the dinner is dicey at best.  Randy loves to laugh and talk with friends, which means he doesn’t always check the main part of the dinner.

Usually, the banter goes something like this…Randy, is the meat ready?  What – Meat?  Yes.  No, not yet.  Should I put the salad together?  No, not yet.  Please give me ten minutes before it’s ready.  OK.

Usually in less than ten minutes, the door will open, and Randy will announce that the meat is just right.  Great, but I needed ten minutes.  At that point, he will say, “Well, if we have to wait that long, it will be too late, and the meat will be overdone.” 

That’s just the way it is with us and God on so many occasions.  He asks, Will you trust me with this?, and oftentimes, we reply, No, not yet.  Later He asks, Will you trust me now?  We reply, No, not yet.  On it goes until you have done almost all the things you wanted or needed to do, worried needlessly, lost sleep, and are at your wits end, then you tell God that the time is just right.  Luckily, He never says it’s too late.  Rather, He takes us as we are and continues to love us.

Alexander Maclaren says, Christ sometimes delays His help to test our faith and energize our prayers.  Our boat may be tossed by the waves while He continues to sleep, but He never oversleeps.  He is never too late.