"Soon..."

My 19 month old doesn't understand "soon" (as in... 'lunch will be ready soon...', 'we can play soon...', 'we'll be home soon...').  He only understands "now."

The other day, my wife and I were making lunch for the three of us.  Usually it's a weird dance of the two of us making lunch for ourselves, him and each other at the same time.  As we were making lunch, Myles did what he usually does at the beginning of lunch prep: shows impatience through whining.  He wants his lunch "now."  Then it dawned on me... and I don't think this is the sum total of his understand... he can't see the lunch coming together.

Track with me... Myles is 19 months old.  He is about 2 1/2 feet tall.  All of the lunch prep... his bottle, yogurt prep, grilled cheese cooking and veggies warming... is happening on the stove and counter which is taller than 2 1/2 feet.  All he can see is the edge of the counter.  He only sees what is near the edge... the bread bag... the tip of his bottle... part of a plate.  He doesn't see the lunch as it is coming together.  He doesn't realize that it is nearly ready and will be ready "soon."

But then... we don't really get "soon" either...

We have drive-thru windows so we don't have to get out of our cars to get our food... we have high speed internet so I can watch Netflix right now and on-demand movies... we have a microwave so my food will be warm in 30 seconds rather than 10 minutes (so I don't have to stop Netflix for long).

We want now!

Same is true in our relationship with God.  God doesn't work on our time frame.  The prophet Isaiah reminds us about God's timeframe in Isaiah 55 (NIV):  "8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

God is able to see time and history from a completely different perspective than us.  He sees what is "almost" here and what is coming "soon."  In our fast food, microwave high speed culture, we want it now.  But God is working it out in his time and God's timing is perfect, even if it isn't the same as mine.  

JC


Tweet