Time Out - God's in Control

I am a little obsessed with the concept of God's timing. This started with a few answered prayers and a few changes in my life. Then I marveled over stories in the Old Testament which exemplified how far-stretching God's vision is compared to our own. Now, as even more strange things happen in my personal life, I can't help but sit back and let this obsession grow.

God works in the big picture. But he also attends to the smallest of details. As a result, we can make one of two decisions: entrust everything to His vision and His plan, or fight for power. If we are not waiting on God to make things move, then we start to look to ourselves, mere humans with no control over time. Just as we cannot serve two gods, we cannot entrust control to both ourselves and our Creator.

Whether we're desperate for things to change, desperate for things to remain the same, or just plain-old desperate, God reminds us that seasons change with perfect timing. Isaiah 28:23-26 (NIV) says, "23 Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. 24 When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? 25 When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? 26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way." The principle of things undergoing change exists in all aspects of nature, including our own human lives. We do not stay in school forever; we age; we have new tastes in food, new ideas about what we enjoy, new relationships. Whatever stagnates loses its life, or at the very least its vitality. No one keeps hacking away at the same surfaces forever. Planting season must move into growing season.

Blame the seasons, blame yourself, blame your work environment, but at the end of the day, God alone has control over time. He shows us from the very creation of the world what it looks like to take things in good measure. Then, through the entirety of the Bible, He allows the human conception of time to press up against His own work, causing many conflicts which could have been avoided if people opened up to instruction. A good farmer does not do whatever they want, as they want, when they want; they listen to the land and attend to its guidance. Otherwise, the timing will be off. The harvest will fall short.

Chapter 28 of Isaiah continues on to emphasize that there also exists a purpose for everything, a reality which walks hand-in-hand with perfect timing. Verses 27-29 read, "27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick 28 Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. 29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent." Humans are really good at misusing things or thwarting intended purposes. In some situations, incredible inventions are made, born out of creative need. In others, things are broken and people get hurt. Squandered time is the result of misplaced effort when we had other better (if not altogether right) answers to look to.

Isaiah shows how everything holds a purpose in these second set of verses. Hopefully we conceptually understand that one shouldn't use a screwdriver for a table saw's job, and so God tries to help us see deeper than the physical metaphors. Our behaviors, our mindsets, and the trajectory of our lives are meant to move in certain directions and accomplish certain purposes. When we try to self-prescribe what this looks like, we miss out on discovering the doctor's orders. When we don't care to get a professional's opinion the condition only gets worse. Then, once medicine actually sits before us, we decide whether or not to take it or cling to our pride and refuse.

I once waited two weeks before going to the doctor. Turns out, I had been going about life for TWO WEEKS with a broken arm, just waiting for the pain to alleviate and go away on its own. By ignoring the problem along with all the events leading up to the fracture, I proved neither my strength nor my wisdom, but displayed obstinate human nature. Did I know what was best for me? No. Did I only go into the doctor's office after my finger ended up also broken, and only mention the arm as a side-thought to that wound? You betcha. I love sharing this story because it's ridiculous, all while glossing over the web of lies and real-life pain I trapped myself into through the entire process. Imagine having a major spiritual fracture without ever searching out the proper Healer. Now imagine an entire world of people putting band-aids over those major bullet holes, never even recognizing how deeply they've been hurt.

It feels so good to be in control of yourself and your own decisions -- for a time. But when things are broken, they eventually fall apart, and the whole time there exists the medicine of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross! And there have been so many clinical tests to prove its effectiveness.

We can trust that the Lord Almighty has a wonderful plan and magnificent wisdom. And of course we know that He will teach us the right way to go. The challenge for us humans is to listen, accept the fact that we cannot dictate timing, and rely on the higher purposes already laid out. Only through God's timing may we heal.