“Marlene, I’m so sorry I’m running late,” I told the receptionist at the dental office.
When I told her I got lost, she laughed and teased me, and then said, “Okay, no problem. I’ll see you when you get here.”
Aggravated with myself, I thought, Dianna, why didn’t you just use the vehicle’s navigation system?
I guess it’s because I thought I knew what I was doing, right up until the moment it became clear that I didn’t know what I was doing.
At all.
Not even a little bit.
I had all four of the Hobbs children with me, who were patiently enduring the long rainy ride.
As often as I can, I schedule their appointments on the same day to avoid making back-to-back trips to the dentist, which saves me lots of time.
Saving time was the idea, but I ended up wasting lots of it today.
You may be wondering, did the location of the dentist’s office change?
Nope.
Sure didn’t.
You see, all was going perfectly fine before I got the bright idea to detour from my normal route and attempt this shortcut I thought would work out.
Big mistake.
I got completely turned around. The idea I had in my head didn’t work out in real life.
Sigh.
Thankfully, we safely arrived, albeit a half hour late.
Things went smoothly from there.
Before leaving the office, after scheduling the follow-up appointments with Marlene, she said, “Make sure you go the right way next time.”
We both laughed heartily.
The staff is never going to let me live that down.
My annoying experience made me consider how the desire for shortcuts in life can lead to us veering off the right path. Attempts to arrive at a specific destination quickly can be a detriment to our progress.
Things don’t always happen as fast as we would like them to, but that doesn’t mean we necessarily need to adjust our approach.
The fact is, we can be doing everything right and still not see the results we expect within a specified time frame. Our natural inclination is to change up, right?
After all, the world teaches us that rapid returns mean we’re doing something correctly.
But that’s not always true, especially not in God’s Kingdom.
He does not operate on our timetable. He does things when He’s ready.
What we may consider too late, for God, is right on time.
A good example of this is found in Acts 9:36-42.
Here, we find Peter arriving in Joppa, where a woman named Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek), who was a faithful follower of Christ, had died. Before she took ill and passed away, she was always doing good and helping the poor.
When the disciples heard that Peter was in town, they summoned him and he went with them.
When Peter arrived at the place where Tabitha’s dead body was lying in an upstairs room, folks were crying and carrying on. In their minds, it was all over. This was it. There was no more hope. This wonderful philanthropist and disciple of Jesus Christ had gone home.
But God was about to do something amazing.
The Bible says Peter sent all the mourners out of the room, got down on his knees and told that dead woman by the power of Jesus Christ to “get up.”
You know what happened?
She opened her eyes and sat up.
When those who had been weeping heard of this supernatural shift in Tabitha's circumstances, they went from mourning to rejoicing. The Bible says many believed the Lord as a result of that occurrence.
Friend, God is going to take you from weeping to rejoicing. He’s turning your mourning into morning.
I know there are some things you’re believing God for, that have not happened yet, but don’t lose hope. Keep believing God and stay on the right path. When you remain faithful to the Lord like Dorcas was, even after it appears to be too late, God will step in and turn things around.
Your faithfulness and consistency is not in vain.
God is saying to you, it’s not too late for a turnaround.
You will receive everything that is meant for you. Your predestined purpose has not been canceled out by this delay. Your set time is coming.
When God promised Abraham and Sarah an heir, the man known as the “Father of Faith” was 75 years old. By the time Isaac arrived, Abraham was 100 years old, which means he and his wife had to wait 25 years for manifestation.
Some of us are ready to quit after 25 minutes.
But if you’ll remain steadfast in faith and unwavering in your commitment to God, you will see manifestation in your life.
If God said it, it has to happen.
Declare right now that your deliverance is on the way. Breakthrough is coming. It’s not too late for a turnaround.
To encourage your faith, I’m stirring Numbers 23:19 NLT into your cup of inspiration, which says, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, be faithful, patient and full of expectancy, and you will see the promises of God come to pass.
Place all your trust in the Lord. He will come through for you.
Do not doubt. Believe only.
Now let’s pray.
God, there are some things I have been praying and believing for, that have yet to show up in my life. But I know Your word is true and whatever You have for me, as long as I continue walking in Your will, I will receive. So I wait with expectancy and thanksgiving to reap the great harvest of blessings You have in store for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
If you need prayer, don't hesitate to request it. I would be honored to stand in faith with you. I know that prayer works. CLICK HERE to learn how to submit your prayer request.
