Guest Post: It's All In the Timing

                                   But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, 'You are my God.'
                                                       My times are in Your hand;..."
                                                              (Psalm 31:14-15, NKJV)

With school starting in a couple weeks and our city once again brimming with over 25,000 UGA students, we are reminded that it is a time of change for them and us. Below is an excerpt from a blog article, “It’s All in the Timing” (6/10/2013) by Annaliese Ashley that offers us spiritual insight to God’s timing.

...Sometimes you have opportunities, choices, open doors, challenges placed in front of you: like Abram when God told him to leave Ur for a land that He would show him. InGenesis12,God told Abram he would make of him a great nation if he left his homeland and followed God’s directions to a new home. Abram said: okay deal. Flash forward to Hebrews, Abraham (the –ha was added to change his name from meaning “exalted father,” to “father of many”) has the biggest chunk of the “hall of faith.” Abraham, because he answered God’s call, became the father of many nations: the Jews, Muslims, and Christians... He answered the call when it was set in front of him; he saw the timing and took it.

By the way, Abram wasn’t told where he was going...until well after he left. Seeing the timing and taking it isn’t always easy or transparent. The “right timing” doesn’t always mean the “I can see my life’s path clearly now-timing.” Sometimes it looks like “I know it’s time for me to move, so I’ll pack, but I don’t know where I’m going-timing.” Sometimes it’s as simple as an unsettled feeling in your stomach, a lack of peace within your soul. Sometimes it’s a tough pill to swallow. Leaving your homeland, your family (blood or friends), your community, your habits, your desires, your own selfish hopes...these are all difficult things to leave and wander off into the unknown...

...What opportunities are in front of me? Which ones do I fight for? Which ones do I let happen, or let slide past?... How do I know when I get there that I’m in the right place? What if there’s something potentially really awesome happening in a place I might be leaving?... What if I’m settling...what if I’m not?... What if where I’m going isn’t as cool as where I am? ... What if I fail...or succeed?

I can’t pretend to imagine if those were the questions racing through Abram’s mind as they race through mine. A step of faith is hard no matter which way you slice it. But I know what thought Abram’s mind landed on; it’s the same one mine did.

I will go. I have seen my ways and I have seen the ways of the LORD; His are wiser and much better in the long run than mine will ever be. I can’t deny that it seems silly—turning down seemingly good opportunities or holding out for others or walking off into nothing hoping for guidance—but I cannot shake it. I must be faithful to the God with whom I stand and to whom I cling. Everything is in His timing anyway: His perfect timing.

Prayer: Almighty God, I don’t always understand your timing, but I know that it is perfect. Grant me the grace to step out in faith and put my times in your hand. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In His Word,
Reverend Dee Dee

Annaliese has attended Princeton for the past two years and is a recent graduate of UGA. Link to the complete post at her Wondering Wanderer blogspothttp://akajournaling.blogspot.com/