In His Time - by Todd

“He makes all things beautiful in its time” (Ecc. 3:11). Beauty comes in time, but time doesn’t always look too beautiful. Last week, we spread 46 yards of topsoil, followed by a generous application of hydroseeding. The gentleman who spread the seeds said that as long as I follow the watering schedule, in a few weeks I’ll have a lawn that would make Cisco Morris blush. Having lived with bare dirt or dead grass and weeds for almost two years, I can only imagine the glory that will come with pushing my mower on a nice green turf.

Each day I’ve been checking for the smallest sign of growth. We are a full three days into it, and I see no need to crank up the mower. As hopeless as it may now appear, there is hope. The seeds have been sown, the water and fertilizer have been applied. As long as the sun continues to rise as it has for the past few thousand years, all the necessary elements remain.

Life is sometimes like watching a yard full of grass seed eventually come to fruition. At first, the only signs of hope reside in our mind. Yet, given time, our eyes will testify to the fact that, Yes there is growth. But it may not come at the pace we expect.

Hope may be deferred, relationships may wane, and we may fail where we expect most to succeed. Yet there is still hope. The One who causes the sun to rise does not forget His promises. We may be like Job, who cried out

“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
If I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
When he turns to the south; I catch no glimpse of him.” (23:8-9)

When we expect most for God to act, He sometimes holds His hand back. Why is this? When we expected Jesus to condemn the drinking of alcohol, he brings wine to the wedding. When we thought he would embrace those who were most religious, He drives them out with a whip. He doesn’t fit our box and His actions seem almost unloving at times.

For Job, his view of God was not limited to his own eyes. After desperately crying out for the hand of God to act, he concedes:

“But he knows the way I take…” (23:10)

Perhaps that is all we need; just a reminder that our troubles don’t go unheard in the heavenly realm. After all, this is the same God who saw our need for reconciliation, and sent His only Son to make a way. What more could we ask?