Timing is a funny thing, and one I’ve been pondering a lot lately for obvious reasons. (You know I’m now two days past my due date, right?) In an interesting turn of the clock, a domestic dispute had us up around 2 am this morning. Some neighbours we’d never seen or heard anything of before were arguing in the hallway, and things were not exactly moving in a pleasant direction, to say the least.

Hero Hubs, being the hero that he is, offered for the lady who was being threatened, and had already obviously been hurt, to come into our place to be safe until the police arrived. Unfortunately, she declined the invitation. The complex security guards were on site to attempt to keep matters peaceful, and HH, having done what he could, eventually came back inside. It was a very unusual interruption to a normal Saturday night’s slumber around here.

This morning, between the increasing discomfort of being heavily pregnant and the lack of a good night’s sleep, for reasons previously mentioned, we were tired, and very thankful when the Bear came to join us in our bed and let us sleep another forty-five minutes. Nothing short of miraculous.

By the time we sat down to breakfast we would’ve only had thirty or forty minutes to get ourselves sorted for church, and with the cramping and discomfort I’ve been experiencing slowing me down, thirty minutes is rather a stretch for getting oneself and one’s Bear sorted for anything. So we decided to have church here at home instead.

After listening to a worship music CD and singing and praising God together, we set the Bear up to watch Veggie Tales so that we could listen to a sermon around the dinner table. Although he has been away from Cornerstone Church for some time now, HH “just happened” to look at the Cornerstone website and saw that Pastor Francis Chan had been back to visit and delivered a message last month. When he was regularly preaching at Cornerstone, his messages were a great source of encouragement and challenge to our faith, so we were excited to have another to listen to.

Timing is a funny thing.

I was challenged in such a good, good, good way by the message this morning. I have allowed the difficulties and discouragements of life at present to cause me to divert from the path of wholeheartedly following Jesus. I haven’t been out clubbing (enjoy that funny mental picture) or fallen off the wagon, but in my heart, sometimes Christ has been seated on the throne, and sometimes my own preferences and desires have been taking priority.

This morning’s message reminded me of God’s incredibly glorious goodness, and challenged me to think about making sure that my life makes sense in light of what I believe about the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the time I sat still to further process the words of the Lord through this message, I found myself praising and thanking God for this late baby, because I am so glad this moment of encouragement took place. God is good — and I am glad to be reminded to live like it!

If you would like to listen to Francis’ message, you can find it here, posted on 1/23/11, and entitled Making Sense of Your Life. It was a powerful and encouraging challenge to me, and I think it will be to you, too.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll also be encouraged that God is indeed a God of perfect timing. You may think He is waiting for things to line up in a way that will work something out just right for someone else also involved in a situation that affects you. I am convinced that He is able to work things out for the benefit of others, most definitely, but He also has your very best in mind, too. It would almost seem that sometimes we think we’re waiting on the Lord, but He is actually waiting on us.

And, with time as it stands for me in this moment, that’s quite a thought.

xCC