Wednesday, February 24th, ‘10
All rights reserved © message by Kris Jackson
EXPECT DELAYS
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
A construction sign by a local bridge that I frequent flashes out the warning, “Expect periodic delays”. Your city likely has a slow zone too. I don’t like construction delays because the adding of a lane, an overpass or exit ramp can inconvenience traffic for several months, but knowing that the end result will be an improvement tends for greater patience. The two key words here are “expect”, because delay comes to everyone of us, and “periodic”, because the delay will not last forever. The highway department will remove the sign when the project is completed. We, by the way, are all projects under construction and that tests patience. The following are some tips I’ve learned while waiting for the green light…
The meantime is usually a very “mean” time but you can
make it a green time. Think fertility not frustration. Take an elective
course. Catch up on letter writing. Finish last year’s to-do list. Relax.
You’ll be complaining about being too busy soon enough. Second, know that delays
are not necessarily denials. The timing may not be right just yet.
Sometimes God answers yes to our prayers, sometimes He would have us scrap our
prayer because He has something far better in mind, but often He would test our
desire. Elijah was delayed in receiving his double-portion, but ultimately, not
denied. Third, realize, you must go through it to get to it. “The other
side” implies distance. We’re so accustomed to fast-food and microwave speed
that we try to squeeze a timeless God into a slot on our calendar, forgetting
that “times and seasons are in his power” (Acts 1:7).
Fourth, discern that disappointments may be His appointments. Anticipation can lead to frustration – “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around” (Prov 13:12 MSG). We deal with things that are “unrelenting”, God deals with “suddenlies”. What we have waited a lifetime for, God can provide in a split second. But a “sudden” good break doesn’t mean an “instant” break. It has to be waited for. Disappointment means we have come to the end of ourselves. That is when it becomes His appointment. God takes over at the point of our surrender. Had we yielded sooner the answer may have arrived sooner, but the delay helped us to look in the mirror.
In delay we learn to lean on the Lord but also on each other. The “Love Doctor” Louis Greenup tells us, fifth, to snuggle when you struggle. He adds, you need a buffer when you suffer. That buffer is relationship. Tests and trials reveal human insufficiency. Adam needs Eve. Timothy needs Paul. You need a prayer partner. Then sixth, this too shall pass. Over and over, it says in the Bible that “it came to pass”. Whatever comes, “comes”, that is, it hits us square between the eyes, in order to “pass”, that is, a problem is like meeting head-on traffic. It grows bigger and bigger the nearer it gets but then whizzes by in a flash. It came “to pass”. Paul called it “light affliction, which is but for a moment”. You may feel your load is neither light nor momentary, but in light of God’s “eternal weight of glory” it is clearly both. In life we can “expect periodic delays” but those delays needn’t make us park the car. Stay in your lane. Creep along. Listen to the radio. Hum to the music. The traffic fans out just ahead.