Appointed Time

Looking back at my blog posts I see that 4 months ago I said, "Tomorrow I will post about God's appointed time." Well, here it is!

About a month into this "adventure of dependence," my mom called one morning to ask how I was holding up. I told her I wasn't. She immediately pulled out her Bible and read this to me Habakkuk 2:2-3. "Then the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

She said, "God has an appointed time and no amount of crying, begging or pleading can speed that up." God is up to something and my job is to wait for the revelation.

One of the things my mom talked to me about is letting go of my expectations and putting my trust in God. She shared two important elements:
1. God is sovereign over timing and everything in my life.
2. I honor God by accepting my own limitations in regard to timing.

That day I began to pray differently. It started with acknowledging that I am not the one in control. Instead of asking God to bring the solution right away, I started asking God to sustain us while we wait. God has shown up! As I have posted previously, work is coming in for Danny, gifts are miraculously appearing, God is giving to us through others.

I typed the above words 6 months ago. I never dreamed I'd still be walking this rocky road. But God has seen fit to prolong this time in our lives. The road has gotten dusty and very dry at times. Some days I am so thirsty and I can't see God anywhere in this. But just as my hope is faltering, he reveals himself in some odd or unique way like with money in my carton of eggs! The scripture closes with "...it will certainly come, it will not delay." This sure feels like a delay; a long one. But God has already determined the outcome.

What first grabbed my mom's attention about this passage is what she read in NAS "Record the vision...that the one who reads it may run." She said, "Keep writing promises on the wall so Danny can be reminded of his vision and be encouraged to keep going."

One more thing...Check out the notes in that were in her Bible regarding this text.
"A fixed period must elapse before the prophecy will be fulfilled, but this should not be regarded as failure or deception. Rather this time can be endured with the Lord's guarantee of approaching fulfillment."

That footnote is still sustaining us. There have been days were we felt deceived, tricked. But as time passes and God reassures us that fulfillment is coming. So we endure.