God’s Timing

A country newspaper once ran an article on the importance of Sunday worship. Shortly thereafter, they received a letter to the editor which read, “I dare you to print this. I tried an experiment. I have a field of corn which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating on Sunday. I gathered the harvest on Sunday and hauled it to my barn on Sunday. Not to my surprise, I found that my harvest this October was just as large – if not larger than that of any of my neighbors who went to church on Sunday. So where was God all this time?” The editor printed the letter but added his reply at the bottom. “Your mistake was in thinking that God always settles his accounts in October.”

No doubt the editor held a view of a god who is vindictive. However, setting that aside, he is right in that we often think God should act on our timetable. Sometimes we do think God should act when and how we’d like. Sometimes we want God to love those we love and punish those we don’t.

In the prophet Isaiah God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways…”

By and large, I take this to be good news. If it were all up to me, I’d make a mess of it. I need to rely on a higher power. I love Psalm 61. With great humility, the writer of this psalm prays, “Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”

Let us pray: Loving and gracious God, so much of life is a mystery. And yet, you created us with great curiosity and thirst for knowledge. It is humbling to be confronted with questions that have no answers – and answers that only raise further questions. Help us to trust that all that you have created – including us – rests securely in your loving hands. While we don’t know what the future holds, we do know that you hold the future. And for that, we are grateful! Amen.