I used to ask why God spent seven days creating the world and mapping out humanity.
Now, before I continue, let’s settle a few things. People have debated all over the world: Is God real? How do we know what the Bible says is true? How can there be just one way to God, as Christians believe?
I think all of these questions are valid—I’ve asked them myself. And I can certainly walk through the historical and factual truths regarding whether Jesus was who He said He was—God in human form, the Savior of the world.
When I became a Christian at age 21, it wasn’t apologetic debate, or even the question of whether the Bible was real, that drew me in. It was the fact that I was one way, and Jesus changed me—I became another. He did things that no one else could have done for me. That reality is what made it clear to me that He was who He said He was.
I wasn’t going to be convinced by what someone told me or wanted me to believe. I needed to see evidence—real evidence—of something happening within me that wasn’t just an emotional experience.
I love that God meets us exactly where we are as human beings, because He certainly doesn’t have to. But in the course of life, as we seek God for His will and purpose, we can miss Him in our impatience and sometimes short-sighted view of His plan.
For example, if I hadn’t stayed planted in my church—if I had given up, left, or pursued a completely different path, as I often wanted to—I would have never received the phone call that set me on the path to adoption and bringing my children home.
That’s pretty staggering, considering 18 years passed before I became a mom, and so much happened during that time. Why did it take 18 years? Looking back, I can see that so many things had to fall into place.
At the time, though, I was caught up in questions like: Why am I not married? What is wrong with me? Should I make this decision or that one? Maybe I’ll do this… or that. At times, I felt overwhelmed by my desires, as if time was passing me by and nothing was happening in my life.
But all along, God was intricately working out His plan. He saw two orphans in China and orchestrated a story of redemption and love that miraculously involved me. I could have missed it entirely.
What situation can you think of that you might have missed if you had made an emotional, circumstantial, or impatient decision?
With God, timing is everything. Could He have created the world in a single day? Yes—but He didn’t. A picture is formed one piece at a time, each part depending on the one before it, and that mirrors our lives.
As much as impatience may tug at your heart, pause and consider: Is the decision I’m about to make centered on me, or on God’s will for me?
Let Jesus be your single hope.