The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives. (Psalm 37:23 NLT)
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16 NLT)
After a long and tiring trip, I awakened Monday morning to howling winds and wild seas. "They're 10-12 today. Looks like we won't be able to get out for several days. Tomorrow is supposed to be 14-16's. Maybe Wednesday and Thursday we can get out." I had come half way across the country to fish off the Atlantic coast of Florida and also get in some needed study and writing time. I had worked extra hard to get all my work done so I would have no distractions — just time for Bible study, fishing, a little writing, and rest. Seemed like a good combination.
Tuesday dawned with seas as predicted — wild and dangerous. Wednesday came and while the seas were more moderate, the water was still extremely disturbed. Tragically, 4 boats and 4 bodies had washed ashore from the previous day's storms. No fishing Wednesday. We finally did fish Thursday. It was a great day with beautiful weather and with moderate seas. We had a great time and took a good catch. What fish we wouldn't eat, we released. However, Friday dawned with rough seas and no fishing. One day of fishing for a 1 week stay. Hmm …
At first glance, to come all that way and make all that effort for one day of fishing seemed such a waste. But underneath, the delays turned out to be a gift of grace. It was a good week to be gone — a week with a lot of stress and much worry but not much accomplished. For me, however, it was a wonderful week of intensive study, writing and rest. Long stretches of Bible study enabled me to accomplish what I had needed to get done for several weeks with the Gospel of Mark. I caught up on some much needed sleep. I finished reading a book and I completed writing a study guide. None of that would have been accomplished at home with all the demands of the weekly schedule. The time with friends and a good day of fishing just made the week even more a blessing.
Sometimes, in fact often times, what we intend to happen doesn't. We so often think we know what is best that when God re-routes our plans, we miss the grace that is given us. Instead of giving us what we planned or wanted or expected, our Father gives us precisely what we need: our hoped for plans are delayed, but our Father's grace is not.
While such an insight shouldn't be a great revelation, for most of us it is. Many of you are like me – cramming way too many things into a week, filling our futures with hopes, plans, and expectations way beyond our ability to accomplish or fulfill. Part of the problem is our impatience. Part of it is our arrogance. However, the bigger part is our perspective. From God's vantage point, the delays, the re-routing, the changed plans are not a problem, but a gift — they are delays of grace — sent from a loving Father to help one of his frantic children regain a sense of humility about life and a deeper sense of joy at knowing that "Father Knows Best" and will do that best if we will but surrender to his grace and respond to his delays with thanks.
So, in the harried madness of Thanksgiving for many of us, and just another busy week for the rest, let's pause and offer our genuine praise for our Abba Father who gives us what we need because of his grace.
