A few weeks ago I once again found myself in Kenya a country that is quickly becoming near and dear to my heart. I was there as part of a mission team putting on an vision / eyeglass clinic in to town of Molo in the western part of the country. The clinic had attracted thousands of people each coming with some kind of eye issue. By the final days we were nearly out of everything. Our doctors had run out of medicines, our supply of lenses and frames would be gone by midday. In the midst of this a group of students arrived. Most of these students had 20/20 vision, but they nearly all complained about watery eyes, eyes that hurt, or not being able to see well on sunny days. These are real symptoms of living on the equator where the sun is especially harsh and the air is filled with dust, pollens, and smoke from the fires used to warm homes and cook. I had heard the same complaint from dozens, perhaps hundreds of young people throughout the week and I wanted to yell at this young woman named Elizabeth that we could do nothing to help her. Suddenly God (for it certianly wasn't me) spoke (no I never heard a voice) to me and said "she didn't come here for eye care. I brought her here for another reason". I told Elizabeth that I did believe her eyes bothered her. I assurred her that her eyes were fine, and that I felt God had brought her to me for some other reason. I ask her what that reason might be. She thought for a while then looked me right in the eye and said with conviction in her voice "I think He wants me to be saved!"
Only moments before I was about to crush this young spirit with harsh words that I couldn't help her but God in his perfect timing had a wonderful surprise for me. We go to Kenya, not only to provide eye care services, but to fulfill the great commission and and the great commandment.You've got to ove God's timing! Countless times in my ministry I was ready to throw in the towel and a card, email, or phone call would come, often from a student I ministered to years before new feeling led to let me know the effect that I had on their life. God's timing is perfect. But waiting is not something that I enjoy. I am incredibly impatient. In the past few years I have been praying that God would show me where my new calling was not that I was no longer a youth minister. I am still waiting. I know by faith and by experience that God's timing is wonderful, but it is also hard at times to wait upon.
I can imagine the Hebrews in the wilderness following the cloud. Yesterday it led them to a sheltered valley, out of the wind maybe even water. Yes, here is a great place to stop. Then the next day it's off again. This time it settles over a batten stretch of rock and sand where the wind howls and there is nothing that would want them to stay. But the cloud does stay for days that turn into weeks. Why couldn't God have stopped us yesterday in the peaceful valley?
So I stand in awe (and at times contempt) of God's timing. In Kenya through a young woman named Elizabeth God reinforced the idea that his timing is so much better than mine. That I need to be patient and like Elizabeth ask the question "Why has God brought me here". What do I need to learn? What rough edges need to be honed smooth? For what I need to remember is that God even has a purpse for my waiting.
John
God's timing is incredible.
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