In His Time

Patience is not one of those virtues that people are dying to display. Usually, we want more noble virtues such as love, peace, or wisdom. It seems that the only time patience comes to the forefront of our minds is when we can’t make things happen the way we think they should.

I find this to be true when we experience financial problems and we pray and ask God to please fix the finances right away. When we say amen, we hope the doorbell will ring and someone will present us with an envelope with the right amount of money we need. Or, we have loved ones that we would love to see follow Jesus. So we pray, and then we hope that in the next conversation, they will give their lives to Jesus. And here’s one more: we want the world to be fixed now. No more pain, violence, sickness, death, and so on. But when we wake up in the morning and listen to the news or read the paper, we find these problems are still alive.

What I am learning is that God really does make all things beautiful in His time.¹ I understood this a little better when I had the chance to observe a butterfly work its way out of a chrysalis. First, the chrysalis splits and a struggling butterfly fights to free himself. The crinkly wings appear, then slowly unfold and flatten in the sun. When the butterfly’s time comes, he takes flight. If I chose to cut open the chrysalis to help the butterfly out, he would die. It is the struggle that makes him strong so that he lives.

This observation is teaching me that sometimes when we want things to happen, God leaves us within a specific moment in time to strengthen our faith and trust in Him. The struggle helps us to discover His will, His love, and His plan for our lives. I am learning that I need to pace myself according to God’s timing and not my own. Trying to make things happen by my own schedule is like trying to open a chrysalis and expecting the butterfly to live. Instead, I could mess up the plan or dream or whatever should happen.

Patience is one of those virtues that come from God’s Spirit working in our hearts. We grow,  learn and mature into God’s beauty; in His time.

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Pamela Williams writes from Southern California.

References:

1. Ecclesiastes 3:11

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