Maybe Not Today, but Definitely on Time

I have good news and bad news: God is going to heal you. Just, maybe not today. God is going to take away your grief. Just, maybe not today. What do you make of that? Maybe you figure that some hope or a delayed answer to prayer is better than nothing. Maybe, to you, it sounds a little sketchy. I mean, if God can do it, if God is willing to do it, why not just do it right now?

One of the most theologically unsound, possibly abominably sacrilegious movies I ever watched was "Bruce Almighty." But, a point it made stuck with me. Bruce is angry. Life doesn't seem to be treating him as he'd like, so he complains. About God. "God" appears, endowing Bruce with infinite power and challenging him to do a better job. Bruce finds that in giving everyone everything they think they need, he is doing more harm than good. Now, I'm not saying God has limitations. I'm not saying God is like some irresponsible cartoony character wielding power like a two-year old handles a golf umbrella (experience talking here). What I am saying is, it is so much bigger than us. 

I have had those experiences where I prayed for one thing or another, God made me wait, and it turned out better than it would have if it happened as I intended. But, how can allowing a child to be harmed before intervening be good? How can healing someone of a disease after they've infected others be kind? How can allowing a drunk driver to wipe out an entire family be better than immediately answering a wife's decade-long prayer that her husband get sober? Those are all really terrible things, right? What if that child grows into an adult whose testimony brings hundreds to know the healing power of the Lord? What if those infected become invaluable in discovering a cure that saves thousands? What if, on the day of the funeral, many in attendance hear the Gospel for the first time, or are spared from a mudslide that wipes out their neighborhood? I know I might be oversimplifying, but trust me, we are going through the same thing right now. All we have known for the past two years has been turned on its head and people we love are in a place we are convinced is not best for them. I can feel God's presence, He has sent countless people to minister to us, but I don't always joyfully or gratefully receive it. When I give thanks for a word of encouragement, a voice within me whispers, "If You hadn't allowed this, You wouldn't have to work so hard encouraging me." But, it is so much bigger than us.

We have all been playing the game: maybe God is going to do this; maybe God is going to do that. Maybe the people who have reached out to us needed to be taken out of themselves. Maybe the people in the pews behind us are just watching, waiting to see how we live out our trust in God. We are looking for the plan, the purpose to help us get through this time. But God's ways are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts. His are so much better, so much more refined and eternal. And rather than staying awake watching for the sun on the horizon, sometimes we have to close our eyes knowing it will be there in the morning. We have to let God be God rather than expecting He will reveal His plan to us, submit it for our approval. If He did, we'd only mess it up anyway. We have to know He is there through the sickness, through the grief, walking beside and encouraging us. We have to allow Him to heal us and hold us instead of wriggling free and insisting we're ready to move on. We have to trust that the bad news, the "maybe not today" part of this means the path of restoration and redemption that he set us on, that we pray for daily, will be so much better, so much bigger than we ever imagined -- but right on time.

"For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

    it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

    it will surely come, it will not delay."

~Habakkuk 2:3