Timing

For me, life’s all about timing.

I could list multiple examples of moments when I made poor decisions, or when the decision wasn’t necessary bad, but the timing was off. That trend seems to be more prevalent when I’m doing my own thing and not really open to listening to what God has to say about my life.

But I’d rather focus on what I’m grateful for–the times when I’ve let God hold the stopwatch and determine the right time for changes, decisions, and big moments. I learned a valuable lesson a few years ago from a wise person I know. She told me that the best prayer in any situation is “God’s will be done.” I honestly did not like hearing that. I fancied myself as a master puppeteer of my own life and the lives of those I loved, able to pull the strings, move the little characters around on stage, and begin and end the play at any point in time.

And I did that for a long time.

It just didn’t work that well for me. It also left me feeling guilty, depressed, and strangely helpless and out of control despite all my best efforts to be in charge.

Oddly enough, when I stop watching the clock and pray for God’s will, and for God to open the right doors and close the wrong ones, He does exactly that. It is rarely in line with my schedule or agenda. It’s typically not at what I’d consider to be “the right time.” But it always works out beautifully when I pray, wait, and watch what happens.

There’s a lot of life to be lived while I’m waiting, too.