His Plan is Beyond Time

My plans versus God's plans.

It shouldn't be this way. God has written this really awesome story for my life, and I should be more than excited for whatever he's got going for me. The problem is, I want them done on my time as opposed to on His time. However, God is beyond time. So, correction: I want them done on my time as opposed to according to His plan.

In my class "Education in a Pluralistic Society" we were discussing two different approaches two time that cultures can have: one is called monochronic time and the other is polychronic time. Monochronic time is more time-oriented, meaning the culture is highly preoccupied with being exactly "on time" to all appointments, even if it means dropping an activity before it is completed. We see this in school, when the bell rings right in the middle of a great discussion in class and everyone has to move on to their next class. Polychronic time, on the other hand, is more relationship-oriented; an activity starts when everyone gets there and ends when everyone leaves, regardless of what time it is.

This, to me, draws a direct relationship to my time vs. God's time. My time is comparable to monochronic time, which can leave me filling unfulfilled when I try to get things done in a checklist approach, spreading things thin in a quantity instead of quality manner. I'm more time-oriented when I should be more relationship-oriented.

If I let go of my selfish desires for things to get done when I want them done and trust that what God has planned is good, I could become more relationship-oriented. I would feel more fulfilled if I appreciated the fact that God has plans (instead of times) for a reason; however, I shouldn't need to know God's reasoning behind those plans but rather trust that as my Lord He has only the best intentions for me. It's something I'm definitely working on with Him, and He keeps showing me over and over again that I need more patience.

As I've been reading the Old Testament, the story of Abraham's and Sarah's struggle with fertility particularly struck me. This was part of God's covenant with Abraham-

"But Abram said, 'O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.'
Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.' He took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'" (Genesis 15:2-5)

God made good on his covenant, but Sarah didn't actually give birth to Isaac until Abraham was 100 years old. Waiting, for Abraham, must have been incredibly nerve-wracking as a man of that time because if he didn't have a child before he died there wouldn't be anyone in his family line to inherit his estate. He slipped up during that time and slept with Sarah's maidservant, Hagar, in an attempt to produce children.

In the end, Isaac was completely worth the wait that Sarah and Abraham went through. God made Abraham's descendants innumerable just as he promised, and the profound love for his son that came from that wait prepared Abraham for God's greatest test for him- when he asked him to sacrifice Isaac.

God has such amazing plans for you, but are you willing to wait? Because I can guarantee that they're well worth it.