Lessons in Timing

Y'all, I wish learning the lessons God has for me burned calories. I really do. Do you have ANY idea how skinny I'd be right now?

In the meantime, allow me to share something I'm learning.

In this whole 30 day adventure of taking things one minute at a time, God and I had a conversation (well I was attempting to make it an argument, but it was a conversation) about my need to plan and know and control....and His desire for me to open my grubby fist and let Him do things His way in His time.

Gulp.

He gave me this example, which was a good one. (Hello! He's God. He's good with the examples.)

Not even a year ago, I was sitting at my desk in Financial Aid, wishing for a new place to work. And then Jamie said she was leaving her job. And I had a fleeting thought...what if I could do her job? I whispered to the Lord, If this is of You...You bring it to someone else's mind.

And in an unprecedented Bekah move, I left it at that. I wrote it down and walked forward day by day through my life, sometimes thinking over it but never once obsessing, never once worrying, never once doing a thing to manipulate the outcome. Several weeks went by and I thought it was done. Not a word had been spoken.

Then came the night when I opened my email and found the uber-long message from Jamie encouraging me to apply for this job that she felt (from the Lord's nudging) would be perfect for me. In a whirlwind one-night flurry, I updated my resume and sent it in, saying Lord, if this is of You - You make it happen. I went in for an interview and thought that was the end of it. And when I about gave up on it...I was called for a second interview.

On the way up I said, If this is of You...You make it financially possible. I walked in fully expecting I'd have to walk out without a job - and a mere ten minutes later, the job was mine and it was financially possible.

And in that three month stretch, do you know how much time I spent worrying about it? Ummmm about one evening. The night before the second interview. And that was really more nerves than worry, honestly.

God said, You did that and it worked. Why can you not live every minute of your life that way?

Good point!

Friday night I hunkered down to write and ended up being engrossed in the chapter until 1:15 in the morning. Right before I called it quits, I (of course!) spent "just a minute" on Pinterest. I was perusing my good friend Jodi's board of quotes and saw this one:

Source: tissosweetcandy.blogspot.com via Jodi on Pinterest

Earlier in the evening I'd been wrestling with trusting God again, so this was a good reminder.

I gathered up my things and headed for bed and as I did so, I passed the window that overlooks the backyard.

I did a double-take.

Ummm - when did the tree disappear?

Remember this? The night the neighbor's tree fell in my yard? SIX MONTHS AGO??

Dad and his friends cleaned up all of the tree guts that were in my yard but the trunk of it still rested on my fence and we've not been able to repair the few broken boards because of it. The home owner never comes to the house, so I had no idea if he even knew the tree was down. I tried not to think of the eyesore of a tree stump as I looked ahead to today when the house is being shown twice. I told God it was up to Him. Either the people coming to see it would overlook it or something....

...but sometime on Friday the owner apparently showed up and cut down the whole tree. It's in tiny pieces in his yard. All of it. He even took the pieces that were wedged into my yard. Other than the missing fence boards which yet need to be re-installed, you can't even tell I had any damage from that monstrosity of a mess.

I am grateful. I was tired of looking at it. But more than that, God said See? I know the showings are Monday. And while you don't know the outcome, I do. You've not worried about the tree. You've not made a hassle of tracking down and arguing with the owner. The time came. The tree is cleaned up.

Now can you please trust Me for the rest?