Right On Time


 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you call upon  me and come and pray to me and  I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11-12

 We are taught even in worldly circles to count our blessings. That is something I take very seriously. As diligent and vigilant as I am about it I know I miss some. My hope is that I never miss one that bears great significance. Just this morning I read a story about Corrie Ten Boom. It isn’t new to me, as I have read it a few times before but there was a revelation in it today that brought me great joy and greater hope.
It is the story that Ms. Ten Boom tells about her father and train tickets. Her father took her on train rides fairly often. Though he purchased the tickets early he held on to little Corrie’s until just as they were about to board. He didn’t want her to lose it or leave it behind. She likens that care, given her by her earthly father, to the careful way in which our heavenly Father blesses us. She said that just like her father with the train tickets, God doesn’t give us the grace we need for a particular circumstance until we are about to step on board. She was referencing her act of forgiving the people who murdered her family and her ability to forgive them. Reading it I had a picture in my mind of a person I have forgiven but with whom things do not seem fully resolved. I began to experience a flash of guilt, thinking that maybe I haven’t fully forgiven him.

God in his infinite mercy derailed my guilt train and took me to a different area, one in which I have fully forgiven. He reminded me of an incident when I forgave someone who many people have said I should never forgive. I showed mercy, kindness and love to a person who in the world’s terms didn’t “deserve” it. How? Why? Simple, because as I was about to board the train, choosing forgiveness or judgment, God blessed me with the ability to choose well. I did not realize the magnitude of that blessing until I saw it in light of Ms. Ten Boom’s words and in light of my desire to, but not quite achievement of, forgiveness of my current nemesis. Not to worry,  my realization of full reconciliation is coming. I just haven’t made it to that station yet.
God is never late. He is also never early. God’s timing is perfect. I stand assured that my ticket is in his hand and further content in the knowledge that he will hand it to me right when I need it.

 

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