Day 5: A Better Way; A Better Time

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8

Sometimes God doesn’t move on my timetable. He takes a lot longer than I would like.

For instance, I always imagined getting married right after college. However, I didn’t marry for more than eight years after getting my bachelor’s degree. During that time, God allowed me to fulfill other childhood dreams that might not have happened otherwise.

My friend, Kim, experienced a delay with a business deal. The sale didn’t go through when she had hoped. However, a new opportunity sprang up with the same company a few months later — much bigger and better than the one that fell through.

The Israelites faced a detour when Pharaoh finally let them go. You can read about it in Exodus 13: 17-18. God didn’t lead them on the short route. He took them a longer, safer way that didn’t run through Philistine territory.

I find it difficult to remember this during the wait. If you face a delay or detour, try thinking about it positively rather than negatively. Consider some ways that God could create a better situation than you could.

I do this in small ways sometimes. When a client cancelled an important business meeting, I felt let down. I could have dwelled on how difficult it would be to set this meeting up again. Instead, I focused on how God might be trying to protect me. Rain poured down the day of the January meeting. Maybe God was protecting me from a car accident or from getting the flu — which seemed to be everywhere.

I find it helpful to focus on God protecting me rather than withholding something. And I think that’s a right way to think about God. He is our Protector. He is on our side … for good.

Lord, help us reframe our situations in light of Your goodness. Help us remember that Your plans are for our good, not our destruction.

Stacy