Those who trust in the Lord are as steady as Mt. Zion, unmoved by any circumstance

(Psalm 125:1 The Living Bible).

Recently I was in a meeting with some folks who are in the public arena of our town a great deal. They said they’d heard rumblings of complaints about various issues in our community. Wanting to be sure they had accurate information about those issues, they requested a meeting with our town manager.

When my friends addressed the issues about which folks were saying, “They’re not doing anything about this,” my friends learned about all the avenues that town leadership had already pursued, as well as ones they were still pursuing, to attempt to resolve these issues. The folks who were complaining were completely unaware of what was going on behind the scenes.

As I listened, I realized how much this reminds me of how we respond when we’ve prayed and prayed about a situation but don’t see any change. It seems to us that God “isn’t doing anything” and we may complain to Him or to our friends—completely unaware of what God is doing behind the scenes.

In the midst of this, I was working on a writing project (Diary of a Call, the account of God calling us to Japan) which required me to read excerpts of the journals I kept during that time. One of my biggest frustrations was that after God confirmed His initial call for us to go to Japan for a year, months and months went by before a door opened for us to go.

To us, it looked like God or the people in leadership “weren’t doing anything.” But as I reread the journal entries from my present perspective, I understood that if God had taken us to Japan before my sleep apnea was diagnosed and treated, I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my responsibilities. In addition, there were other issues that God needed to address before we would be ready to go to Japan.

These are good reminders for me as we continue to wait for a date to be scheduled for surgery. My doctor had hoped to have it scheduled by March 17. (Surgeries are being scheduled four weeks out, so that would have meant surgery perhaps by mid-April.) However, he didn’t know that the surgeon who will assist him would be out of town and unable to see me until March 31. So surgery will probably not be scheduled until after that appointment, which means (unless there are other delays) surgery around the end of April or later.

Sometimes when I tell folks about this development, they become angry at my doctors—assuming that “they aren’t doing anything,” or perhaps even that God isn’t doing anything. However, I know that my primary surgeon would have me in the operating room tomorrow if he could make that happen. He told me the operating room schedule is very tight—there are lots of surgeons vying for time slots. In addition, I know it can’t be easy to find a time slot that fits three surgeons’ schedules. Being angry at my doctors is counterproductive, for sure.

And being angry at God? On March 24, a week after the date Dr. K had hoped to have a date for my surgery, my In Touch devotional was titled, “God is Sovereign Over Delays!*” I sent that title in a message to our Townsend family group on Messenger. Immediately, our daughter Angelyn posted a link to tobyMac’s song Help is on the Way, followed by this message:

“My friend sent me that song with this message this morning. ‘HE is never early HE is never late…Help is on the way.” Praying for God’s perfect timing for your mom’s surgery.”

It seems that God is going to great lengths to remind us that HE is in control. When we grumble and complain about the timing, we are actually grumbling and complaining against Him. The only time my trust has faltered has been when I’ve become completely focused on what isn’t happening, instead of focused on my trust in God. As my favorite translation of Psalm 125:1 says, Those who trust in the Lord are as steady as Mt. Zion, unmoved by any circumstances.

Father, forgive us when we think we know best and allow our frustration to take away our peace. Help us surrender our will and place our trust completely in you. Amen.

*My March 24 and 25 devotionals from Charles Stanley are so excellent that I want to incorporate more of his wisdom on waiting into my blog next week.