Afternoon Thoughts-God, Could You Please Hurry?:

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV 1984)

I completely lost my patience and started yelling, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

Those of us who have lived in rural areas know that tractors on the road are a fact of life. However, just because they're the norm doesn't make them any less irritating if you're in a rush! I followed a tractor down one of our narrow two-lane roads recently. I could only take the snail's pace for so long before blowing up. But all that yelling, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" didn't speed up the tractor.

How often have I approached God's timing the same way? And it never hurries Him up either.

When God doesn't operate at a pace that pleases me, and I want Him to hurry, I'm reminded of Sarah, Abraham's wife. I have feeling she felt the same way. After waiting ten years for a baby that God had promised (read Genesis 12-21 for the complete story), Sarah decided to "help" God.

Surely ten years was too long for anybody to wait. So Sarah gave her maidservant Hagar to her husband, and the two of them had a child. Soon the two women were at odds. Talk about a soap opera!

Finally, fifteen years later, the child promised by God to Abraham and Sarah was born. God was not late. His timing was perfect. It was Sarah who was in a hurry and rushing things, but she found out there was a price to pay for manipulating her circumstances.

I know Sarah and I are not alone in our desire for God to hurry up. I once heard it said that we are people with gods on our wrists.

In Isaiah 55:9 God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (NIV). God's timing is part of His ways. I may be tapping my watch, but He is never late. He may seem slow, but He is always right on time.

Has God made a promise to you that seems sluggish in coming? Has He planted a dream in your heart that has yet to come to fruition?

Don't give up hope! God is faithful, and you can rely on His perfect timing. Fix your eyes on Him and enjoy the journey to your destination. There are things to be learned along the way that will enhance the joy of a promise fulfilled.

Dear Lord, sometimes I don't understand Your timing. It's often very hard to wait, but I trust You. I want to rely on Your ways and Your timing. Help me to learn what I need to learn as I wait. In Jesus' name, Amen.(Amy Carroll)