Perfect Timing

After graduating from high-school, I felt called to spend a year in Uzbekistan. All Summer long I worked as a nanny, in order to purchase the necessary plane ticket. The next hurdle was, coming up with the funds needed for living expenses. I had never heard of support raising. The day before my departure I was still penniless. This was a Sunday. On my way to church, I poured my heart out to the Lord, "Father, you know that I am supposed to have $75 for each month in Uzbekistan. You have brought me this far; please show me where to get $900 from." After the service I positioned myself at the exit, in order to say goodbye to my beloved church family. As they filed passed me to give me hugs, many also unexpectedly pressed money into my hands. This body of believers truly sought to support me in any way they could. Not until I was back in my apartment, did I count all that I had received. It was exactly $900! God came through in the last minute. I understood that God had made me wait, in order to teach me to trust him. From this, I jumped to the conclusion that God always waited until the last moment to answer prayers.

Fast forward six years. By then I was living in Aberdeen, Scotland, preparing to fly home to Germany. This time it was not the money that was lacking, but my passport, which was held up by the British Immigration Center in London. I was so sure of my "Last-Minute-God", that it came as a complete shock, when the passport did not arrive until four weeks after the scheduled departure date. "What is up with that?" I questioned God in confusion, while having to buy a whole new ticket. "Why did you not come through this time?" A month late, according to my schedule, I finally arrived in Berlin on the exact day that my grandmother passed away. God had planned this all along, so that I could be there for my mother, when she really needed me. I learned that God is not a "Last-Minute-God", but that he has his own time schedule - he does things at just the right time. Even on Christmas we rejoice in Gods timing, because "when the set time had fully come, God sent his son." (Gal. 4:4)

Today I am given a new opportunity to trust in God's timing. My husband became unemployed, yesterday. The pressure for him to provide is magnified by the fact that we have six young children. Remembering the experiences of the past, I have learned, not to make predictions or to have certain expectations, but merely to rely on God, who will not let his children go hungry.

Only six hours after writing these last lines, a kind lady called, whom I had briefly met, four weeks prior. She knew nothing of our financial situation, but felt urged by God to contact me, timidly asking whether we would accept her help with Christmas gifts for the kids and with paying our electrical bill. To see God come through in such a tangible and timely way, is a great faith-booster.

His timing is perfect!