God’s Timing

Have you ever noticed that God’s timing is rarely, if EVER our timing?

I have this horrible tendency to “plan” things out for God. I look at a problem logically, give God his options, tell him which one works best, and smile, expecting a pat on the head and God saying, “Good job Krista! I was really stumped on that one and wow… you just nailed it.”

Um, yeah. It doesn’t happen that way. EVER.

True Story:

My husband and I lived in Memphis for two years, and after we found out that my sisters and parents were all moving to Nashville, we felt like God was calling us there as well.

But there were complications. Like… jobs. I had one that I liked and saw a good future with. We had a Nashville office, so in my logical brain, I told Scott that when God opened up a position there, then it would mean it was time for us to move.

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. But no open position. One night, we were getting ready for bed, and I was lamenting to Scott about the situation. He replied to me, “Krista, what if God doesn’t want you to transfer? What if he wants you to get a different job?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Believe me. He wants me to transfer.”

“But Krista….”

“No buts. I have a good job and starting a new one would be just crazy.”

And then I saw it. The look. The one my husband gives me when I’m being unreasonable and pigheaded because I’m using my own brain instead of allowing God to teach me.

Crap.

So the next day, I went online. There was only one job that interested me, and to be honest, it looked pretty perfect. I quickly sent off my resume, not thinking anything else about it. The next day I had an e-mail from the recruiter. The job seemed PERFECT, except for one thing. I had to travel for up to 2 months because the company was relocating.

I laughed. Hard. I had a 3 month old at home whom I was still nursing and a three-year-old who needed her mommy too. NO WAY was I going to travel like that!

I went into the living room to tell my husband about the crazy job. When I finished, he looked at me. “That sounds like a really good opportunity Krista.”

“HUH?” I was pretty much dumbfounded. How could he think that?!?

I called my sister who had three kids herself. Surely she would tell me how ludicrous it was. “Actually, Krista, that sounds pretty awesome. You should do it.”

By this time I figured Aliens had abducted my family or something. How could they think this a good thing? But… I decided that if God didn’t want me to have the job, he’d put a roadblock somewhere. He’d let me know, because so far I’d had nothing but unwelcome green lights.

After multiple interviews and tests, I was expecting an answer within a few days, and I mapped out my plan of “just in case” attack. It was sad, y’all. Every hour was filled with something that would have to be done. I would have to know by Wednesday noon if I got the job for my plan to work, otherwise it would all come crumbling down. I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would see it my way.

Wednesday came. 9. 10. 10:30. 11:00. I willed my phone to ring, but every time it did, it was just from clients. Then the clock switched from 11:59 to 12:00.

No phone call. Evidently God didn’t want me to get the job anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was a crazy plan anyway. It involved renting out our house, renting a new house, moving our whole family, then coming back to Memphis after that to still work one more day. All… within a two week period. With two kids. While working full-time.

I sighed. I just wished God had put the roadblock in place sooner so I hadn’t gone through all the trouble.

Then, it happened. My phone rang.

It was my job offer. I looked at the clock. 12:05. God was making a point to me. He does not care about my time lines. HIS timing is perfect, and HE knows best. He already knew the exact moment I needed that call, and I didn’t need to fret and stew about it.

I gave my 2 week notice that day, and carried out my plan. As it turns out, it was a good one. We prayed through it, and everything worked out. But I knew from that point on, that it wasn’t because of Krista and her magnificent time management skills. It was because of God and his almighty wisdom and strength.

The same goes with our writing. We may think we have everything planned out and know exactly how it should happen. But in the end, God knows. He knows the exact moment we need to get “the call.” He knows the exact time the market is ready for our book, even better than an agent does. And speaking of that, he knows the exact agent that we need as well.

Discussion: Have you ever struggled with telling God what to do? In your writing, have you ever thought, “God, why am I still waiting?”

By the way, I still work at that same job almost five years later. I am now the Payroll Manager.