timing

Christ Portrait by Joseph Brickey

The past three+ years have been vital. They've also been daunting - shaking loose many things I falsely believed were just so. It feels sometimes as if I'm continually sloughing off scales of old, outdated ideas about the way things are supposed to be. Not sure if I'm done (or even close to done) learning what I'm supposed to be learning. Even when it seems I've "learned" something, a new challenge queues up in line with little or no gaps of rest between. I think this is the new "normal." The line from "Come, Come Ye Saints" rings true: "Gird up your loins, fresh courage take." I'm girding, I'm girding.

Learning to trust God is an essential element of our having faith in Him. The challenge comes when we want something good, something God Himself has encouraged us to seek for, and yet the good thing we want seems delayed or even harder, denied. As Moroni taught, this is the moment when the real test begins.

And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. Ether 12:6

This process of testing clearly seems to be an eternal law. Even the Savior wasn't exempt from it. As Paul taught, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) Learning to trust the Lord's timing, even when I don't know how things will turn out, is God's way of refining me, even if that refining requires both time and fire.

As Elder Maxwell put it, “Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable.”

He also reminded us, “Faith in God includes faith in God's timing.” Yet one more thing to be grateful for at this Thanksgiving season - gratitude for the blessing of "not yet."