God does not hurry.
Think about it. The flood lasted 40 days (when an entirely quicker method could have been used). The wilderness lasted 40 years. The exile lasted 70 years. The period of silence, between the Old and New Testament, was 400 years.
This struck me while, of all places, I was stuck in the dentist chair. While there, with the tools spinning, I remembered the words of Paul in Galatians 1. (Needless to say, I didn’t have too much to do other than wait.) The words replayed in my mind during my entire (no cavity — wahoo!) visit.
In that chapter, Paul points out that after meeting Jesus, he went to Arabia for three years. So after a dramatic conversion, Paul did not directly go into ministry. Instead, he went away from the center of the Christian movement. He went away, we might say, into the desert — entering his own “silent years.”
This is completely contrary to what we as capitalists might expect. My guess is that you and I would have put Paul to work right away. Paul was an asset, after all, so why not use him? If he had converted and possessed the skills needed, why not employ right away? Rather than going away to another country, why not write more and teach more?
Perhaps the journey of Paul can teach us about life. We don’t need to race ahead of God. We don’t need to strategize as if God has not planned before us. We don’t need to panic when things don’t immediately go as planned. We can wait years and years for God to reveal his plan. And we can trust that all things are ultimately in God’s control.
Patience does not come easily. It often requires the passage of time, usually after a period of not getting our way. A toddler learns patience after waiting beyond “give me now.” Likewise, an adult grows in patience when despite the frustrations, setbacks, and unknowns, God finally provides.
Of course, during those three years, Paul was being prepared for his life’s greatest mission. We don’t entirely know how God was shaping Paul during those years. And likewise, we don’t know how God shapes us during the in-between years. But we can rest in the fact, that in God’s sovereign plan, no time is wasted.
So when you don’t know what to do, or where to go, or even who to be, rest in the fact that God will never rush, but God will always come through.
