Time is Not a Patient Friend

I find myself constantly checking clocks, pacing myself to the silent drill sergeant who orders my comings and goings. By the position of her unbending hands, she holds the power to dictate my every move. "Time waits for no man" so they saying goes, most certainly, time is not a patient friend.

My insides gnaw anxoius as I continually learn what it is to wait.

2 Peter 3:8 says, with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day, and in reading this I am reminded of He who is unbound by the steady trickle of seconds gathering into minutes. I am reminded of the seemingly slow coming of Christ.

Lazarus, Jesus' friend, brother to Mary and Martha, lay dying. Mary sends word to Jesus. He doesn't come. He waits. Two days. By the time Jesus arrives, Mary is sure He is too late, after all, her brother is dead.

I wonder if she cursed him under her breath, silently judging him for the time he apparently wasted in coming to her aide. When your brother lays dying every second is one you can't afford to waste. By the time Jesus does make it back to Judea, Lazarus is four days in the tomb, asleep, my NIV names it.

In my own life, I step in time to the merciless clocks that rush me through my days, my constant timing hangs over my head--I huff and sweat as the moments slip past too quickly leaving me certain it's too late, I'm too late.

By all parties involved, Jesus arrived too late. The disciples thought so, the sisters told Him as much, Lazarus was dead. 

The women, with their hearts cracked open with grief wept their "if only.." tears into his lap. If only you had been here sooner--

We live with one eye on the nearest time piece, but for the Creator of time there exists no such thing.  He knows no time table other than that which He sets for Himself. While we whine and fret about time's relentless marching,  He winds our days according to His impeachable timing, with all things working together for His great purposes, not ours. With Him it's more Kairos, less chronos.

"This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." John 11:4

Jesus knew all along that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He had great purpose in coming when He did. We  look at our lives and nibble our nails in anxiousness when things don't happen according to our calendar. But God has a purpose that we aren't always privey to. He weaves the wonders and incidents of our lives together for His glory.

Lazarus died to be raised. Purpose lies within everything--even that which boggles our minds and breaks our heart Whatever you're waiting for, don't be discouraged. God knows your need. He understands the perceived urgency of your desires. Trust Him to answer in His time.

Trust Him.

Need a little more encouragement in the waiting? Maybe this will help.