In the Valley of Postponement

Feb 16, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word

There’s a beautiful moment in a beautiful book called Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard (don’t you love all those h’s?) where the main character is told that instead of continuing to climb the mountain she’s hoping to climb, she is going to have to first go down into a valley, through a desert. The path seems to be taking her away from the High Places she is hoping to reach. She calls to the Shepherd.

“Oh no,” she cried, “You can’t mean it. You said if I would trust You, You would bring me to the High Places, and that path leads right away from them. It contradicts all that You promised.”

“No,” said the Shepherd. “It is not a contradiction, only postponement for the best to become possible.”

Tough to hear, sometimes.

There are lots of moments in our lives when we are waiting. Sometimes for something we’ve been excited about for a while. Sometimes for something we’ve been dreading. It seems postponed for one reason or another. We’re waiting to find that special someone. We are waiting to become pregnant. We are waiting for our favourite team to come out on top at the College World Series. We are waiting for the diagnosis or the test results.

Life seems to be full of postponements.

These days you all know that we’re passing the time however we can waiting for the arrival of a little bundle of joy. We’re excited to meet this little one on the outside, and kind of thought he’d be here by now. So things feel a little postponed.

My Uncle was scheduled to have triple bypass surgery last Wednesday, but the surgery was postponed because he had a heavy cold and they didn’t want to operate while he was sick. After dreading the surgery for quite some time, I think waiting another week was discouraging. {Unless there is another postponement, he is scheduled to have surgery today, so please say a prayer for him.}

In my uncle’s case, as in my own, I am hoping and trusting that things that feel like unpleasant delay are actually postponement for the best to become possible. Corrie ten Boom encouraged us never to be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

Jesus put it like this:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” {Matthew 6:34, the Message}

If our trust is in the God who can cause everything to work out for the good of those who love Him, then indeed, we need not worry, or even allow a perceived postponement to discourage us. We will miss out on now if we can’t take our eyes off tomorrow.

I’m sure each of us can recall a time in our lives when a check in the mail, a well-timed phone call, some moment that seemed postponed or delayed, actually turned out to be postponement for the best to become possible.

So hang in there when it feels like all you can see is a big “Postponed” sign on the door of what you’re dreaming of, or dreading. The Creator of the Universe has it all under control, and if you trust Him, He can weave things together so well, you’ll be left speechless and thankful for His perfect timing.

xCC