I Love the Lord's Timing.

Wait, did I just say that?  Yes, it's true.  Sure there are times when impatience gets the best of me.  But right now, in what the Lord is revealing, I am aware that His timing is flawless.  And I do so love to see a plan come together!  The past few days have been lovely, but I wasn't aware of the events coming together to reveal one of God's truths, something in which I needed to be reminded.

I've been reading a couple books, of which I was just about to finish.  I knew that on Friday the family I was living with would be heading to the States for 5 weeks, giving me lots of time to read.  I had the weekend all planned - I didn't care if I didn't get anything done save spending ample time on the couch with a few good books and some Christmas movies (I felt a bit like Cameron Diaz in The Holiday when she gets to her quaint little home for a getaway).  But what books?  Thursday my answer came.  I received a package of two books from my dad.  Perfect!  I would spend the weekend lost in a book.  Soon after taking the family to the airport, I began my weekend of recluse.  The past couple weeks I've also been listening to a sermon podcast series, taking my time listening to it, savoring every minute.  I had put off listening to the next sermon because I liked the feeling of knowing it was still coming - when I listened to it, it would be over, and I'd have to wait until the next week to hear the next one.  So I was saving it (I do this with clothes too - when I get knew clothes I like to save them for a couple weeks, looking forward to that moment of wearing them...I like the anticipation, I guess).  I had intended to listen to it Friday, but found myself busy with other things - finishing a prior book I was reading, and watching one of my Christmas favorites, Home Alone (it was, afterall, my first night home alone).  Next came Saturday - the day I started a new book, the day I listened to the next sermon, the day I had my hope rekindled in an unexpected way.

God spoke through the words in the book, the words of the sermon.  I was a bit blindsided, not even realizing that I needed this hope.  But as the day progressed, I became keenly aware of a few areas of my life that I trusted God with, but in which my hope had dwindled.  Hope is so important.  It keeps our hearts fresh and alive.  When we hope, we have dreams, we live with expectancy - expectancy that God will do great things.  On the contrary, a life without hope is dead.  The Bible speaks of it often.  On Friday as I read His Word, He brought me to Romans 15:13 - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  He was prepping me here, bringing hope to my attention.  Then Saturday I read Hebrews 10:23 - "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."  And today, 1 Corinthians 2:9 - "...no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."  How exciting is that?  I don't know about you, but that makes me hopeful, expectant of good things.  So I started Sunday with a newfound hope, an excitement of God's plans - grateful even that He doesn't reveal them ahead of time.  Where's the fun in that?  And what a perfect time for rekindled hope, with Christmas Day approaching - a day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the One who gave us hope in a world torn apart, the One who became hope for us, the One who rekindles our hope.