Sometimes I wish waiting weren’t a part of God’s plan.
I like to see things happen and know things are moving forward in the direction I want them to go. Waiting simply does not give me the comforting sense that I am in control and everything is going to work out just perfectly. (And I really want to know that!)
Some days I wish I could just take a sneak peak at the end of God’s plan for me and see how it turns out…or at least hurry the whole process along until I get to the part that I really like. Yes, I can convince myself quite easily that getting results (or at least being able to predict them) is what would be best for me.
My devotional book, Life in His Hands: A Call to Godly Surrender and Purposeful Living, will be released in September – one year after I submitted my initial draft to Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. I remember getting the news from my publisher that it would take an entire year for my book to be published. I was a bit shocked and found myself inwardly exclaiming, “WHAT??” Although I now understand this time frame is essential to producing a quality book, the thought of waiting that long was hard to bear after months of pouring my time and energy into writing it.
This book had become precious to me, and I wanted to share it with others as soon as I could. But I realized that waiting was vitally important, so I knew I could handle the year-long process in order to make it an even better book.
However, the one thing that still required a great amount of faith was the uncertainty of it all.
There is no road map of what will happen once my book is released. There are no guarantees or certain outcomes. Only God knows what will take place. He has a plan, but I do not know it. However, I do know deep within me that he is completely trustworthy; I know that the One who has been with me through it all will not leave me now. He has not forgotten the plans he has for me, and he will not forsake me, no matter what my doubts and insecurities try to tell me. God has proved himself faithful to me, and I will hold fast to that.
My mom always tells me, “God was faithful today; he will be faithful tomorrow.” How true these words have been in my life! I may not always see exactly how God is working, but I know that he loves me and is ever faithful to me. And knowing that, I can endure the waiting and not knowing. Yes, someone far greater than me is in charge of the plans for my life, and he can work them out just perfectly.