Inching through Isaiah, Part II

I made it through the rest of Isaiah this week – not my absolute favorite part of the Bible, but it was good to read it. I came across another couple of lines that resonated with me (it's sort of pathetic that I found only two passages in 66 chapters that really spoke to me, but it is what it is):

“Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it” (5: 19).

Too often I want God to work on my time. I’m such a complete control freak that way (in every way, really!). But I get frustrated because I am looking for a clear sign, or a clear answer – I want him to “hasten his work” so that I can see it. I want him to lay out his plan clearly, so that I can know it. Turns out, God doesn’t always work on my timeline. In fact, as far as I can see, he rarely does.

Take my move to Nebraska. In 2001 Brad and I packed up our life in Massachusetts and relocated to Nebraska, so that he could begin his teaching career at Doane College. I’ll be honest, the move was just about the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I left my family, my friends, my career, my home – all the people and things that provided comfort, security and love – and moved to a foreign environment, a flat, hot, grasshoppery, windy, Husker-obsessed environment. And I was 8 ½ months pregnant with my first baby, who turned out to be quite crotchety for his first few months. And I was surrounded by people who seemed a lot more comfortable with God than I was; people who talked about God and Jesus in regular, everyday conversation. To tell you the truth, all the talk about Jesus and God really gave me the creeps at first.

But you know what, in retrospect, I don’t think that I would have ever come as far in my faith if I hadn’t moved to Nebraska, if I hadn’t been ripped out of my comfort zone, my familiar routines, my old habits. Moving to Nebraska stripped me bare, and it was only then, I think, that I even began to consider the possibility of God.

So my point is, God works in his own way, at his own pace. He may not hurry when we want him to; he may not reveal his plan to us in its entirety. We may not even know we are in the midst of that unfurling plan. That’s the way it was for me. It turns out, moving to Nebraska was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.