Right on time

I've learned first-hand that God does not always answer when we want Him to or even beg Him to, but He is always, ALWAYS on time. Sometimes He makes you wait until the very last minute to test your faith or until you get your heart in the right place, but we serve a God who can be counted on to show up BIG TIME and ON TIME. And we should wait on that expectantly. 

I was due to have my son August 19 and because I was going to attempt a VBAC (Vaginal birth after a Cesarean), the doctors gave me 10 days to go into labor on my own. If I went past that, I would be forced to have a C-section on August 30. So the 19th came and went, along with several other endless days. From the beginning, I really felt that the whole VBAC thing was what God wanted for me, my husband, and my baby. So a few days before I was scheduled to have my C-section I completely broke down. I was getting impatient and frustrated. I was starting to feel overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy and even anger. "Why can't my body labor and deliver a child?" "I'll never experience giving birth the way God intended it to be!"

Now that's not to say God doesn't use C-sections for good things... my daughter most likely would not have survived if it wasn't for that surgery. I, born a C-section as well, could say the same for myself and countless other people also. But this was personal now.. between God and I. A promise of sorts I had expected Him to keep. But just two days before surgery, I wiped up the tears of disappointment and began accepting God's will for myself and for my baby - no matter what that looked like. Well that Sunday morning on my way to church I slipped down my porch steps in the rain. I ended up in the hospital that morning instead of church to make sure baby was ok. Everything ended up being just fine.. but no signs of labor. That night I went to a small church service since I had missed that morning and really felt like I needed to be still and quiet with the Lord. The pastor, whom I had never met before, saw that I was clearly very pregnant and prayed with me. "Bring this baby tonight," he said. "Can you do that, Lord?" I was almost annoyed by it because at that point I was done asking for that and honestly maybe I wasn't sure if He COULD do that anymore. But sure enough, the next morning brought about some serious contractions. I was almost in disbelief when I started looking at the clock and realized they were coming 3 minutes apart. I managed to shave 1/4 of my legs and then we headed to the hospital!

After 18 hours of laboring in the hospital, my son was born (vaginally!) at 5:03 a.m. August 30. My C-section would have been scheduled for 5:45 a.m. that day. With just 42 minutes to spare, he was born right on time, according to God's timing - not mine.

Jesus was born at just the right time - and so were you.

"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman.. " (Galatians 4:4)

Jesus died at just the right time - and so will you. 

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners." (Romans 5:6)

It's not your job to worry about His timing or try to figure it out for yourself.

“The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know." (Acts 1:7)

But God always hears you and shows up... 

right on time. 

“At just the right time, I will respond to you." -God (Isaiah 49:8)