Power in His Delay

I've been journaling and reflecting on life lately each night before going to bed. It's become a bit of a routine—and it is so calming & relaxing. I write down a few sentences about something good that happened in my day or something that I'm grateful for (I don't ever write the bad stuff—who wants to remember that?). It's simple, it's quick, and it's so amazing to look back over all the good that's been happening in my life lately.

The other day, I had been particularly frustrated while waiting and waiting for Tech School dates for the Air Guard. I felt as though I'd been waiting forever—though it's only actually been a couple months—and began writing to help release that frustration. What I wrote wasn't a complaint, or even negative for that matter. I essentially wrote a prayer. A prayer for peace & trust in God's perfect timing. Sure, I may have wanted to know those dates right that moment, but my wants were selfish and mistimed. I journaled about how thankful I was for all I've been given and how I knew that God will reveal those dates to me in His time.

And what do you know? Two days later I received those dates. It was as though I had finally put it out of my hands and given my trust to God when he took that burden right from me and answered that prayer. Now granted—they were not the exact dates I had hoped for—but see? God's working within me to trust that those are the right dates! I didn't even realize that my prayer had been answered—and so quickly, too!—until I was reading over my journal last night. What a beautiful thing it is.

While we may have that now now NOW mentality, sometimes all it takes is letting it and the worry and the concern and the control go for it to happen. I heard this incredible phrase a few months ago and wrote it down in all caps in the back of my Bible so I could always remember it. It said:

"There is power in My delay."

To me, that is so powerful. Realizing we are not in charge of what happens around us—we are only in charge of ourselves, our thoughts & our actions—is so freeing. Is it not? There is power in His delay. That's so beautiful & makes me ever so hopeful for all that lies ahead.