Timing

God’s timing is divine. Do I really need to elaborate on that? No, but I will anyway. 

My patience level is constantly challenged by God’s seemingly slow-like-molasses timing.  Have you ever tried to pour molasses out of a jar? I’m not sure I have either, but I can imagine it to come out annoyingly slow.  I mean, is it considered a liquid even though it resists the aquatic quality? That is a debate we should have some other time.  Going back to the God/molasses analogy… The concern with timeliness is definitely a cultural crutch for us Americans.  I imagine people who aren’t taught that “you can get what you want when you want it” don’t struggle as much with God’s timing being characteristically slow. The longer I keep living this life God has given me, the more I realize that God is actually not slow at all.  He is thoughtful and strategic with how He acts and how He shows up. 

 

Four years ago…

God put Rwanda on my heart for the first time. 

I was just beginning to really live my life around the ministry of Jesus Christ. 

I struggled with knowing who I was without my friends and family. 

I learned that forgiveness is a lot harder to offer when you have a deep wound. 

Four years later…

I have a home in Rwanda where God is doing miraculous things in my heart and using what I learned during my time in Bloomington to glorify Him here.

I wouldn’t even want to live a life for anything/anyone but Christ… what would be the point?

I have moved far from friends and family knowing that my identity did not rest upon their shoulders, but on God’s.

I am now quicker to forgive even with deep wounds because of the gradual realization of how much I need forgiveness.

 

I could go through a lot of “if, then” scenarios to illustrate that God’s timing is perfect in all aspects in life, but I think a better way to describe it is to just say, “He knew better than me.”  He knew better than me that I needed 3 years to wrap my mind around moving to a third world country.  He knew better than me that in order for me to find my identity in Christ alone, I needed to go only with Him to an unknown place and in unfamiliar company.  He knew better than me that I needed serious lessons in humility.  Boy, was that lesson awaiting me in Rwanda.  He knew better than me that I needed a full year in Rwanda before I could handle a full load of Young Life ministry.  He knew better than me that I needed to hear a sermon during last week’s church service that shouted “GO. Make disciples of all the nations.  Start in Kigali.”

 

I get the sense that God is no longer being silent in Kigali.  He keeps pulling at my heart and showing me ways to reach out to find more hands to serve Him through Young Life.  Even though we got the ball rolling with Young Life last year here in Kigali, I haven’t felt like it has truly gotten started.  There’s no telling how long God will patiently wait before there is fruit from this ministry in the works, but like I said before, “God is not slow…. he is thoughtful and strategic.”  I’m not as bothered about the timing of things when I am reminded that God knows WAY better than me.