It was Sunday morning. I noticed Ellie right away when I entered the room. She was one of the middle-school students and the daughter of a friend of mine. She looked adorable. As we stood there chit-chatting, Ellie kept looking at her left wrist. I could only assume the cute little watch she was wearing was new. I asked her about it, and she was so pleased I did. She told me she had gotten it the day before, and she loved it. She extended her left wrist towards me so I could get a better look.
“It’s beautiful, Ellie,” I said. “It even has a second hand.”
Ellie looked up at me with her big blue eyes. She was confused. “Second hand?” she asked. “Yes”, I replied. “The small hand, right there,” I said as I pointed to the small moving hand on her watch.
“Oh, that’s not the second hand, Miss Lorrie,” she said. “That’s the third hand.”
I most definitely was caught off guard. Ellie was very literal, so I suppose technically, she was right. The second hand on her watch was actually the third hand in a different context, never had I considered it. I explained to her the second hand was named to count the seconds in a minute, not the size of the watch’s mechanism. I explained one hand counts the hours, one hand counts the minutes, and one hand counts the seconds, also known as the second hand. She understood it, but she didn’t like it. Quite frankly, I’m not sure she even believed me. But then again, she was fourteen. Grownups aren’t very smart when you’re fourteen.
I once heard an expression that captures my thoughts. “You don’t need to know how the watch works; you just need to know how to tell time.”
That sums me up pretty well. I’m a big picture girl. I like to see the whole picture and how the pieces fit. I’m aware I don’t need to know all the tiny details of how God is working things out in my life, but still, I often get bogged down in the details.
Very often as Christians, we don’t get the luxury of seeing the whole picture. God’s big picture is too complex and too extraordinary for us to figure out. Trusting God often requires not knowing how he will accomplish what needs to be done and not knowing when or how he will do it. He uses times of waiting to stretch our faith and to bring about change and growth in our lives.
Habakkuk 1:5 says, “For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.”
We often hear God is never late, but generally, he isn’t early either. There are times when we might give up if we knew how long something would take, but God causes things to happen at precisely the right time, his time, not our time.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
We know that God’s plan for our lives is good. Perhaps we spend too much time trying to figure out how and what he’s going to do and not enough time trusting that he who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it.
Just as Ellie and I looked at the same watch, but saw the time differently, let’s remember that God’s timing for our lives most likely looks quite different than how we see it. God is working for us in every tick of every second hand.
Wishing you joy and peace,
Lorrie
What a beautiful message! We are all unique and God has a plan for each of us. God is always with us. His plans are always best.
Thank you Melissa.
Hey Lori. It’s good to see you’re writing again I haven’t seen anything from you for a while. Hope you all doing okay and everything’s working out for you. Love the story and keep on writing! By the way when’s the next book coming out?
Thanks. Nice to hear from you Dan. I hope you are well.
Hi Lorrie!
What a powerful story! In this time of COVID, it’s easy to get discouraged and lose our focus. We need to keep looking up and trusting God! He has a plan and purpose for all our lives.❤️
Thanks Dianne.
It is hard to wait for God but it is well worth it. His plans are always perfect for us. We just need to trust His timing. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Yvonne.
This is sooo good:
Just as Ellie and I looked at the same watch, but saw the time differently, let’s remember that God’s timing for our lives most likely looks quite different than how we see it. God is working for us in every tick of every second hand.”
Thanks Ava.
Beautiful! Wrestling with God’s timing and will. It is so hard to give up familiar ways of thinking and acting, even though Father knows best. God used this blog in my life this morning; thank you!
Thank you Candice.
So good, Lorrie! “God’s timing for our lives most likely looks quite different than how we see it.” AMEN!
Thanks Jessica.
A great reminder of God’s sovereign ordering of our lives. He’s never too late, nor too early. He’s always right on time!
Thanks Melinda.
I like trying to figure things out, knowing I will never have it all figured out. It keeps me learning more about God and how He interacts with the world. Like the watch ticks… we know it must have a Creator – it didn’t just show up. So the question remains: does God set the time and steps back, or is He involved in how the time is spent? 😉
Good question and super relevant for these crazy days we’re living in. I’m going to have to say God is involved in how the time is spent. Our job is to do out best to spend it in whatever ways are pleasing to him.
Such a timely post for my life Lorrie – In the past I’ve taken action as I saw fit which hasn’t always turned out so great, but this past year I have waited on the Lord and asked for his guidance. When things weren’t transpiring as I thought they should have I asked God for direction and he said “wait”. Now I’m not a very patient person – I like to take action, so waiting was most difficult for me. When things didn’t appear to be working as they should have I laid it at God’s feet and trusted that He had a plan for my life. In return, He is blessing me beyond measure.
Watching God’s plan unfold is amazing. He is truly teaching me that His ways are always best, and even when it doesn’t appear that he’s paying attention, He is working – In His time.
I love reading your blogs – thanks for sharing Lorrie.
I know the waiting is hard. I’m not the most patient person. However, the best part is when we get to see how he puts all the pieces together to create something better than we could have ever have imagined.