Hands of Time...

July 30, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 7:12.

In the impatient moments we seek answers, hoping for an ending to our suffering. However, we often fail to see the valuable lessons we learn through waiting out those situations. The overall lesson is one of timing that is taught to us on different levels.

The first lesson is that our desire for instant gratification is not equal to God’s Will. We are on God’s time, He is not on ours. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8. His timing is perfect, and He knows if you get what you want before His timing, that is instant gratification with no guarantee of it lasting. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17.

His timing accomplishes the ultimate purpose. When God told Noah to build the ark because He was going to flood the world, He sent rain for forty days and nights. However, the “waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” Genesis 7:24. We often focus on the forty days and nights of rain, and forget it took a “a hundred and fifty days” to accomplish His purpose.

The second lesson is that His help is available to us at all times. By the time we come to God with a problem, we usually have spent years getting ourselves into the mess when He was warning us and we ignored Him. We struggle, sweat, break the rules, and run around trying to fix something that we knew was wrong and then we grow tired, impatient, and frustrated and run to God. At this point, screaming “help” is not an uncommon reaction. Remember, Peter never said a word to Jesus while he was walking on the water towards Him. The only time he called out to Jesus was, “…when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Matthew 14:30.

God remains faithful and provides His help no matter where we are. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31. He shows us, out of love, things are easier when we come to Him all the time rather than just when things go wrong. We may not like the timing of the lesson, but this is the time we finally decided to seek His help. We could have learned the lesson at a time we were not suffering, but we did not give Him the chance before this moment.

The lesson is to trust Him with everything in our lives. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6. The lessons will teach us to live in a way seeking Him through everything, good or bad, and then we will have His guidance and protection in all that we do. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.

After the lessons, comes the total package, full of reward and protected in His name. Through all moments in life, we must remember the only hands of time that matter are the ones that catch us when we fall, and are ready to hold us up while we are standing. Those hands give us the ultimate guarantee that their timing, unlike our own, will always be perfect and lasting.

That is only true lifetime guarantee.