Recently I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on God’s timing. It was the last day of a 3-week trip to visit my family on the east coast. Aside from my parents and my oldest brother, I had not seen the rest of my family members for over four years and I had a 3-year old niece whom I’d never met. To me, it seemed like much too long to be away. There were times within those four years that I found myself wallowing in self-pity, especially around holidays and birthdays feeling like I was missing out on so much of my family’s lives. I’m sure some can relate when I say, that sometimes, being on the opposite side of the country can feel like being on the opposite side of the world.
As I was pondering all of this, the Lord opened my eyes to see things in a different way. Yes, four years is a long time between visits, however in light of eternity, it is minuscule in comparison. Only a blip on the screen of life. During those four years, the Lord was doing life-changing work, not only in my own life to continue to conform me into the image of Christ, but He was orchestrating and using circumstances to do the same in the lives of my family as well. I realized that had we visited any sooner I would not have been in the same “place” spiritually and probably would have missed the opportunities I felt the Lord opened for me to support and encourage different members of my family.
So my journey with the Lord continues…one step at a time. Once again, it’s about learning to trust more fully. This time it was a lesson in learning to trust and rest in God’s timing.