HE WILL NOT DELAY

I've been thinking about timing and how it rarely seems right. When one thing breaks, other things fall apart. When the schedule becomes overbearing, everyone else needs your time. When you finally feel like you've checked off most of your to-dos, another list of unchecked items comes creeping into your mind. And when you are praying desperately for an answer, for a miracle, for a light at the end of the tunnel, it just never seems to come soon enough ... or ever. 

This weekend in our worship services, we will be singing a song called "Always" which says: 

Oh my God, he will not delay 

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, his promise is true

My God will come through always

Always

  

Each time I sing this song, a memory burns in my mind of the night I lost my kid brother. I kneeled in the middle of my neighborhood street over his broken, misshapen body, watching as his little earthly shell no longer had a heart beat or an intaking of breath. I was desperate, dizzy, I have to be dreaming, I thought to myself. I remember praying so fervently — and actually believing whole-heartedly — that this would be one of those stories where God brought a young boy back to life to tell of his vision of heaven. My heart was beating faster, and I was borderline smiling through my tears as I imagined how impossibly amazing this would be. The Lord's name would be glorified in this miracle, and I would have an incredible first-hand testimony of resurrection to tell to the world. I was ready! This timing would be perfect for me, God would not delay; he would hear my heart and come through. 

I suppose the word that gets fuzzy for me in the above chorus is the word "delay." I fight with this word because it deals with timing, and in my case, timing that was too late. But what I've come to understand is that my timing and my perspective are only a tiny thread in a much grander tapestry of redemption. This word "delay" shows up in 2 Peter 3:8-9 saying,

8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 

The Lord does not delay his promise. Well, what is his promise? His promise is not to fix everything, nor is it to make things easier. His promise isn't to answer our prayers with a "yes" or to make us more comfortable in our journey.

The Lord's promises are: 

To give us a future, a hope, and renewed spirits. (Jeremiah 29:11)

To carry our burdens. (Matthew 11:28-29)

To give power to the weak and strength to the powerless. (Isaiah 40:29-31)

To give us victory and eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:37-39)

To give us peace of mind and heart. (John 14:27)

While we face our problems and sufferings in life, it is tempting to measure God's faithfulness by the outcomes of these situations. We can easily say "If God would have fixed this sooner, I wouldn't be the mess I am today," or "If God would have cured this cancer sooner, she would still be alive." In my own life, I could easily say, "If God would have shown up, my brother would not have lost his life." But the truth is, even if I could trade outcomes and have my brother back instead of having lost him ... I'm not sure now that I would, and here is my internal struggle of why I can say this: too many lives have now come to the Lord through the story of my sweet little brother for me to wish for a different ending. Too many hearts have now been impacted for the Kingdom. Too many promises have been fulfilled through God's grace and faithfulness during my healing. Too many beautiful things have come out of the ashes of death for me to wish that my timing would have been God's timing. 

There is a bigger story of redemption being weaved together through each of our lives. I encourage you to measure and recognize God's faithfulness through his promises rather than through the outcomes of your circumstances. Though our timing may not be God's timing (and though God's timing may seem too late), he will not delay in fulfilling his promises. 

Be encouraged! 

Jamie Robison
jrobison@b4church.org