When You Don’t Know the End, Look Farther

As a child, we took long road trips.

In 1964, we drove to see the New York World’s Fair and visited seldom-seen family along the way. I met many relatives for the first and only time on that trip.

An oft-asked question was, “are we there yet?”

It is life’s question from our lips.

We want to snap our fingers, and our hopes and dreams appear. Yet, that breeds disappointment because life is seldom “right now.”

Instead, God operates on a “right time” timeline.

Think about how God worked and is working.

Fresh from the world’s creation, Adam and Eve stumbled out of the gate.

God had a plan.

The world populated but grew dark and sinful as people focused on evil.

But God had a plan.

Abraham received a promise from God. He would have an heir, and through his lineage, God would bless the world. Abraham grew older by the day, dimming his opportunities for a son. , He sought his own solution to get a son quickly.

But God had a plan.

Israel felt the Egyptian whip, with no way out of slavery. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters died under oppression.

God had a plan.

Israel came to the promised land, but they departed from faith over time. The people of the promise found themselves in foreign lands. God sent mighty conquerors to enslave them once more.

God had a plan.

The people returned to the land of Canaan, but the voice of God fell silent. As the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans each took their turn oppressing them, they wondered if God had forgotten them. God had a plan.

When would God do anything? The answer is “at the right time.”

The story of Passover began with, “we were slaves in Egypt.” Paul could see the panorama of history. He rewrote the narrative.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,” (Galatians 4:4, ESV)

Every year and generation was only a drip in time’s cup. Finally, the time was full.

God had a season for planting and reaping. Humanity could not rush God into action because he felt no urgency or immediacy. When the time was right, he would act.

Like a child in the backseat watching cornfields go by, we ask, “When?”

We should direct our lives through the lens of “right time,” not “my time.”

It requires us to maintain a different perspective when we take the “long look” rather than the quick one.

We must trust that God has a plan and a reason. Seldom do we know what God is doing, but we trust he knows what is best.

Trust means we continue to do what is best, even when we never see the results. We do what is best, believing it will bear fruit one day. Something we do today may set in motion events that, after our lives, change the world.

How many people did James Harrison save? Harrison has donated blood a record of 1,173 times. His blood produces an antibody that cures the Rhesus disease in unborn children. He would have never known that 2.4 million babies were born safely.

Look to the horizon and live your life, believing God will do something with each day you live.