delay is not denial

Audrey and I have been waiting, and even as I type this sentence I know the term "waiting" is an understatement, at best, of how we truly feel. It is like we are at the airport, on time, packed, through security and anxious to get to our destination because a week of vacation and leaving the stress of busy life is just about within our grasp. As we count the minutes that slowly move toward the time we are to board our plane, an announcement echos through the waiting room - flight 227 has been delayed. "NO! That is our flight!"

Now we have to find out what "delayed" means. How long do we have to wait? What happened to cause the delay? When will we get to our destination now? How much time of vacation are we going to lose as a result of this? Is the plane okay or do we have to be worried when we actually board?

As these thoughts race through our mind going 500 miles an hour, we sit and watch the screen give us a new boarding time - 2 hours later. Okay, we can work with 2 hours. But in two hours, the same thing happens. We are delayed again. And then again. And then again. Soon, we feel like we have spent the entire day waiting to board an airplane that has never arrived - and we don't even know for sure IF it will ever arrive - and there are no other available airplanes for us to take. Now the clock works the other way - moving faster as time slips by - mocking us because now we are losing vacation time. We are just there, ready to go, all packed up, having done everything on our end there is to do, but waiting for an unknown amount of time before we can actually leave.

Audrey and I have been delayed. Not for a flight, but in entering the next season of our lives. We have left the Lord out of nothing and are trusting in the truth that all of the Lord's love is with us. We want to believe, "All is well." But we are delayed. We are delayed in important prayer requests. We are delayed in our desire to advance the Kingdom of God. We are delayed in hearing from the Lord.

"Delay is but the wonderful and all-loving restraint of your Father-not reluctance, not desire to deny-but the Divine control of a Father who can scarcely brook the delay." - Anonymous

I read the above quote once, and then again. I try to believe delay is something wonderful, but I cannot. It does not make sense for this delay to be wonderful and all-loving restraint. And there's more...

"Delay has to be-sometimes. Your lives are so linked up with those of others, so bound by circumstances that to let your desire have instant fulfillment might in many cases cause another, as earnest prayer, to go unanswered. But think for a moment of the Love and thoughtful care that seek to harmonize and reconcile all your desires and longings and prayers."

I do not even try to create a chart of how my prayers being answered can hinder anyone else. If anything, I feel other people's answered prayers are hindering us. I feel that people who do not even pray to the Lord are receiving and their gain is our loss. Perhaps this is selfishness. But how long must we be overlooked? At least that is how it feels. Of course, the Lord overlooks no one, especially His beloved children. But the reality is, we are delayed and have no clue as to why - and we have no indication as to when the delay will be lifted from us.

This entry does not end with the happy, "It all worked out and we got on our plane and had a great vacation." After I finish typing these words and posting this entry, we will still be waiting. We will still be delayed. But we have a new hope and assurance. We have to believe delay is not denial - not even withholding. Rather, delay is the opportunity for God to work out our problems and accomplish our desires in the most wonderful way possible for us. That if God were to give us what we want when we wanted, it would awaken love before its time. We have to wait for God's best, and God's best does not always correlate with when we are ready - and so being delayed is waiting for God's eternal best to take fruition in our temporal lives. We have learned a new lesson of trusting the Lord, remembering that our Maker is also the one who came to serve us, quick to fulfill, quick to achieve, faithful in accomplishment. We have come to believe in faith, all is truly well. As Audrey has told me, answered prayer is not the prize - being in the presence of the Lord is truly the prize. Everything else is added blessing.