DELAYED ACCORDING TO WHO?

In recent years it has become more and more common to hear someone say. "DELAY DOES NOT MEAN DENIAL." As I was thinking about my surgery situation, this phrase came to mind and I got to thinking.  When we say “delay” who are we referring to that is or will be affected by this so-called delay?  It’s certainly not God!  We call something a delay when the timing of it coming to pass doesn’t match our expectations. We say it’s delayed when we thought or hoped it would happen by a certain time, but for whatever reason it doesn’t.  For us, things are delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. 

But no circumstance is out of God’s control. God is not affected or impacted by time. He is not governed by it. He created it for us. It helps us to measure life and seasons.

We say something is delayed because we assumed something, but it didn’t pan out the way we assumed. The Lord will tell us that He is going to do something and we begin to immediately calculate a deadline. We begin looking at present circumstances and assume that because of this or that, the promise will or has to come to pass by this time/date.  One major piece of information we neglect to consider though, is that God didn’t tell you when it was going to happen, only that it’s going to happen, so how can we declare something to be delayed when we were never given a due date? Rarely are dates involved in His promises because I believe, a lot of the condition of the fulfillment is our obedience to what He has instructed us to do in order to be positioned to see the manifestation of those things. So then delayed doesn't mean denial, it means somebody disobeyed.

DELAYS ARE USUALLY UNEXPECTED.

I had no thought whatsoever that I would be waiting 3 or more months to simply have a surgery that is so common that most of us probably are in close proximity to at least two women who’ve had one. Just like my surgery seems to be getting delayed more and more, a total of about  5 months, we all experience delays in our lives. Flight delays, the start of a concert or wedding, traffic delays due to accidents or inclement weather, etc. We can experience a lot of frustration from these delays, even to the point of rescheduling other things that are affected by the first delay. We are caught off guard by delays and sometimes have to stop and regroup to keep from allowing the frustration of the inconveniences to get the best of us. But God is never caught off guard. He’s never shocked or surprised. He’s never left scratching His head and wondering what His next move will now be. From before the foundations of the earth were laid, He knew the exact moment that each of His promises to you would be fulfilled. He just didn’t fill you in on the date and time details.

Another major factor to consider when thinking about why something in our lives may be delayed is that we have to remember, even though you may be involved, even play a key role, THIS ISN'T ALL ABOUT YOU. These so called delays are making room for so many other things to take place. There really is a bigger picture being painted by our all knowing God. I’m reminded of the birth of my youngest daughter and how I had to wait 14 years to get pregnant with her because the Lord knew that my oldest daughter wouldn’t be born for another 13 years. To me I was delayed over 13 years in getting pregnant, but to God, it was all a part of His master plan and it was all done in PERFECT TIMING.

This “delay does not mean denial” is something I actually have come to dislike because I’ve come to understand that DELAYS DON’T EVEN APPLY TO GOD.

Instead I'm learning to stop and ask God to "Reveal to me what's really happening here. Help me to see anything that I may be missing."  I said to Him even about my surgery, "If you have a specific reason for allowing this, I surrender to your reasons, but if not, I don't want to wait any longer." That's pretty much all any of us can say, "Lord this is what I desire, but if You have other plans, I surrender to Your plans. You know what I don't know."  

Keep in mind that He always has your best interest at heart.  His thoughts toward you are of peace and not of evil. Even though the way His plans play out can sometimes be painful to you and seem to throw a wrench in your plans,  (Isaiah 55:8) they are not motivated by a desire of God to hurt you, but to give you an "expected end". There is a place He expects you to end up in and that's what all of this is about. The expected end result that He desires for you. (Jeremiah 29:11) Another translations says, "a future and a hope". My personal translation says, "something to look forward to".

So how do we handle these delays? Well I've already given you a direction that your prayer to Him can go that will help keep your mind right and attitude right. Another thing we can do, and that I plan to do during my current "delay" is to take advantage of the additional time I may end up having prior to the actual surgery. Any additional time I may be gifted through this delay can be spent working on my weight and anything else that will cause me to feel better going into the surgery and cause my recovery to possibly be better. I suggest you do the same. Make the most of your so called delay, and then prepare yourself for the moment when the Lord shows you that everything was actually timed impeccably in your favor.