I recall seeing the picture above a while ago, and reading the story behind it. Apparently just as a speed camera was capturing the image of a speeding car, a bird flew in front of the camera, and one of its wings completely obscured the number plate. This made the car unidentifiable, meaning that the speeding ticket could not be issued. I remember thinking “that’s synchronisation right there”…And for the driver, that would have been perfect timing!

Recently, my younger son had a scratch on his face while playing. Thankfully it was a minor scratch with only a bit of blood, but he was upset about it, so I tried comforting him. While doing so, I told him it would heal soon. I probably should have been more specific, because about five minutes later, he came back to me crying “you said it would heal, and it’s still there!” Oops. I did not mean right that very minute. I had some explaining to do about time in the context of wounds and healing. Needless to say, he was neither pleased nor impressed. Thankfully though, the next morning, he barged into my room first thing shouting “it’s healed, it’s healed, I’m so happy!” It made me think about timing again, and how sometimes it can be challenging to wait for God’s perfect timing (for me anyway…seeing as patience isn’t exactly my strongest point).

The Bible talks a lot about timing. In fact, there is a whole chapter on time in the Bible – Ecclesiastes 3. It starts by saying “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” , and then goes into a bit more detail. Reading it again, verse 5b struck me, because of the times we are living in now… “a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing” . I guess now is sadly one of those “time to refrain from embracing” times.

Various other verses talk about waiting patiently for God. Psalm 37:7a (KJV) says “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” ; Psalm 31:15a (NKJV) states “My times are in Your hand”; Habakkuk 2:3 (CEV) says “At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting–it will happen!”; Galatians 6:9 (NLT) says “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up”. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) says “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”. We simply cannot comprehend everything because our understanding is finite. As such, even though we can understand the concept of eternity, we do not have full knowledge of everything God has done/is doing/will do. This is probably why some of our “why” questions may never be answered in this life.

There is a story from the Bible that I feel really emphasises this concept of waiting for God’s perfect timing…the story in Genesis 40 of Joseph in prison, which was for a crime he didn’t even commit in the first place. But Joseph did well in prison…he was popular, respected, the Captain of the Guard trusted him. He seemed to be quite friendly with his fellow prisoners, to the extent that they would share their dreams with him. It’s easy to see why he was so well-liked. He was trustworthy and compassionate. He saw his fellow prisoners sad, and didn’t just walk past, thinking “You think you’ve got problems? Wait until you hear mine.” He stopped to talk with them, and that act of compassion led to the dream sharing session that would later radically transform his life. Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams of two former Palace staff, and his interpretations came to pass for them. The Chief Cupbearer was to be released from prison and restored to his former position. I can picture the scene…the Chief Cupbearer excited that he was going back to his important job in the service of Pharaoh, and Joseph… pleased for the Chief Cupbearer, and also pleading to be remembered when the Chief Cupbearer is restored to his position… “but when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison” (Genesis 40:14).

Unfortunately though, the Chief Cupbearer forgot…possibly not a malicious act, maybe he just got busy with his newly restored job, social life, status etc…and did not remember Joseph at all. I wonder sometimes, did he really not remember Joseph even when he thought back to his time in prison, or did he just completely block out that horrible time from his mind? (Not even on Joseph’s birthday? 😦 )

And Joseph, who maybe had fantasies about the Chief Cupbearer helping him secure an early release, was to live through another betrayal, and have to endure being stuck in prison indefinitely. How would he have felt? Upset, angry, betrayed, feeling like all hope was lost? Understandably so. But, having the benefit of hindsight, we can see that it was just not the right time. God had a much better plan for him. Think about it, what if the Chief Cupbearer had actually remembered him. Worst case scenario, Pharaoh may not have been impressed with his audacity, and may have just finished him off. Or, he may have been freed, maybe redeemed himself from slavery, and decided to go back to his family, who may or may not have been especially pleased to see him (after all it was his brothers who sold him off in the first place!). I can’t imagine that if he had gone back to his family, or anywhere else, it would have been that easy for Pharaoh to have found him later on. It’s unlikely he would have gotten his old job back, or even wanted it, given what happened. So what would his fate have been like? Remembered for a short time, but forgotten for eternity?

But, hindsight is a beautiful thing, and Joseph would not have had the benefit of hindsight, or the big picture. Joseph may have felt like complaining to God, or to his fellow inmates, about how life wasn’t fair to him, how he was innocent, nobody really cared about him and everything you can imagine you would feel if your family had sold you off, but you built yourself back up, worked hard, did well, and still ended up in prison, all because you did the right thing! (Or maybe he was that rare person who takes everything in stride, and was just grateful to be alive, who knows?) He may have been in charge in prison and all, but his desperate plea to the Cupbearer to get him out of the prison tells us that he wasn’t exactly enjoying himself.

But, back to the story…. Something happened one night, two long years later, an additional 730 odd long days and nights of Joseph enduring grim prison life. Pharaoh had a dream, and another dream. He needed an interpretation that no one was able to provide. Not even the wise men, magicians, special advisers etc. He was Pharaoh, he had the power to summon the brightest minds, and no doubt he did, but it all came to nought. They were all stumped.

And now, it was the right time, God’s perfect time, the time for things to finally be made beautiful… and guess who at long last, after all that time, remembered Joseph? Bingo!… The Chief Cupbearer! Somewhere in a very dusty corner of his mind, he reached in and pulled out the distant and long-forgotten memory of Joseph interpreting his dream in prison, and had a light bulb moment. For someone who had forgotten something/someone for so long, he did a pretty good job of recalling the dream interpretation scenario. He made the recommendation that changed not just Joseph’s life, but the lives of people all over the world then.

Genesis 41 – 47 gives us full the story, but in summary Joseph went from prison to palace; from imprisoned slave to Egypt’s second-in-command; from a reputation so tattered even expert tailors wouldn’t have been able to sew it together again, to donning robes of fine linen sewn by the most skilled tailors; from having to make way for others, to having crowds make way for him; from unimaginable squalor to unimaginable grandeur. How exciting it must have been for him! After years of sleeping on a bare floor or on some straw in prison, I can imagine him waking up lying in sheets of pure luxury, blinking for a minute and wondering why his back wasn’t hurting him anymore, why it felt like he was on a soft cloud; why there were servants waiting on him instead of prison guards waiting for him.

And that wasn’t even the end. He reconciled with his family, he saw his beloved father and younger brother again, he relocated his entire family to one of the choicest parts of Egypt for shepherds. I can’t even imagine how he felt, the awe of how his life had changed, the overwhelming roller-coaster of emotions, the intensity of feelings, especially regarding his family. The Bible records that at a point he was so overcome with emotion, he rushed out of the room to have a good cry in private (Genesis 43:30). And then when the big reveal finally took place…”I am your brother Joseph!” What a reunion…The sorrow, the tears, the forgiveness, the healing of hearts, the repairing of the brotherly bond, the catching up, the joy, oh the joy. That was definitely “a time to embrace”, and embrace they did! (Genesis 45:14-15).

We know Joseph’s story from beginning to end, but we don’t know our own story. We don’t have the benefit of hindsight to help us boost our patience now, especially when our patience is wearing so thin, the mere flutter of a butterfly’s wings may snap it. So what can we do? We can trust God. Will it be hard sometimes? Yes. Does He give us strength? Yes, thankfully. Will we want to know how long we have to wait? Yes. Will we always get to know how long though? No. Will God always give us a detailed plan of how everything will unfold? No. Will there be times when we feel discouraged? Possibly yes. Does He send encouragement? Yes. Do we always recognise it? Maybe not. Can we learn to? Yes.

How can we learn to wait patiently? How can we learn to trust God? We have His Word, the Bible, which is full of pages and pages of stories of how He came through for His people at the right time. We may have testimonies from friends, family, church, acquaintances, strangers even, reminding us that God does come through in His perfect time. We may even have our own past experiences of God coming through for us, times when we marvelled at how brilliantly it finally all worked out. It may help to write them down, and remind ourselves of such regularly, especially when the triplets – doubt, fear, and impatience start buzzing around in our minds like uninvited tumbu flies. We can ask for His peace that passes all understanding. We can take one day at a time. We can reach out to the right kind of people. We can pray. We can hope.

We don’t have to wait till sometime in the future when things become clearer to praise God, when we can say “aha, now I get it” (because it may not happen the way we expect or hope, but it will ultimately work for good), We can praise God now, because He is Trustworthy, His timing is Impeccable, He is a Master Strategist, He is Faithful, He is Capable, and He is GOOD!

And as Psalm 27:14 says, in what feels like a command, request, reassurance, and promise all at once, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Photo Credit: Reddit.com