Always on Time

First published March 22, 2016

I was reminded today (once again) that if I don’t hurry up and find someone, it will be too late.

Too late.

It has such a severe sound to it. “Too” before anything is usually a bad thing. Too big, too small, too far, too hot, too much. Too late.

And I wonder what it will be too late for. If it’s checking a box off a list to say I completed something by a certain time, than yes, it may be too late. But, if it’s to have something that’s meant for my life, then no, it will not be too late.

What’s meant for us will not pass us by.

"Hurry up" doesn’t invoke feelings of peace either. Nothing hurried is ever enjoyable. And we miss things along the way. Some of my favorite memories are the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline at sunset or a lazy Sunday afternoon on the deck with a cup of coffee and a favorite book and the sunlight spilling over all of it.

None of my favorite memories are of rushed days or traffic jams or endlessly ringing phones or deadlines just met by the skin of my teeth. Those memories get deleted quickly. They hold nothing of value for me. Those days just feel wrong. The days that unfold naturally are the ones that feel right.

And while a certain time may come and go, it doesn’t mean we pass by the right destination.

If you miss a bus, you can take a cab. If you miss your plane, you can take a car. Wherever you’re headed will still be there. Its coordinates on the map don’t change. You’re just arriving at another time and in another way.

We all reach our destinations differently, and it’s often in the not yet that we are being prepared for just the right time.

This makes me think of Moses. An Israelite baby sent down the Nile in a wicker basket to save his life, he was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. Raised in a palace and trained to be a warrior, who better to then rescue the Israelites from slavery? But when he murdered an Egyptian to save one of his Israelite brothers, he became a wanted man and fled to the wilderness where he spent the next 40 years.

To anyone on the outside looking in, it would seem he was a failure. It would seem he was too late. How could he save them now?

But look a little closer at the story and you’ll see that while Moses was indeed a great warrior, it would not be enough to simply rescue the people from Egypt. They would have to flee to somewhere before arriving at the promised land. And that somewhere was a whole lot of wilderness.

What seemed like his ultimate undoing was actually a time to become who he needed to be to do what he was called to do.

He wasn’t too late at all. He was just getting started.

In fact, during that time in the wilderness he gained a wife and two sons. How about that? He lost a couple things, too, like his cockiness and his sense of self-entitlement. He came to learn not just how to survive, but to thrive.

When he did show up at Pharaoh’s throne to rescue his people, it was the right time for them, but it was the right time for him, too. He had always been ready to fight for his people, but now he was ready to lead them where they needed to go. Take away what appeared to be his detour in the desert and things might have gone a lot differently.

So what is it in your life that people keep saying it’s too late for?

Don’t let them rush you. Don’t think you’ve failed. That lost dream is most likely a starting point for a bigger dream. That wilderness you’re in is probably getting you ready for something in your future. Learn the lessons along the way. You haven’t been discarded – you’re being prepared. You may even gain some unexpected surprises in the process. Hopefully, you'll let go of some things that weigh you down.

And when the time is right – when you are ready – you will be grateful for everything that led you to that moment and the way you took to get there.

It’s not too late.

 

Isaiah 55:9

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.