WITH

Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.


Why does God take so long sometimes?  If I am honest, I have definitely asked that question a lot.  Sometimes the whole theology of God's omnipotence (unlimited power) and his sovereignty (complete control of all things) are more of a stumbling block for me than they are a help because I know that there are so many things that He could do for me that would make my life so much easier.  I don't feel bad about wrestling with all of this though because I know I'm surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses" both in my present church family and in my Biblical family tree of sinners and saints who have also wrestled with God's timing and way of doing things.

In his message on Sunday, Pastor Charlie Weir said something that seemed to bring an answer in part to some of my questions.  He said, "process is God doing something with us when we want God to do something for us."

That quote makes me think of the "dad" side of God.  What if God's way of doing things is more like a dad, who happens to be a master builder, choosing to build a tree house with his son?  If it was about building a tree house then the dad would build a tree house built to spec with every board cut to the perfect length with perfectly level floor and walls.  Because He was a builder by trade, it would take him no longer than a weekend to build the perfect treehouse FOR his son.

But it's not about building a treehouse..and so a good dad lets his son be a part of building the treehouse.  The master builder dad bites his lip when his son cuts every board to a different length. He just smiles as his boy lays a floor that has more angles than a carnival fun house.  And a lot of times when the boy gets impatient over the hours (that turn into weekends) that it's taking to get the treehouse done, a good dad doesn't tell his son that the delay is coming from the son with all of his mismeasurements that lead to miscuts that lead to trips to the hardware store for more wood and more nails.

But finally, when the treehouse is done (and safe to enter because the dad has come back out when the son was either asleep or at school to make subtle corrections that make the treehouse safe), the father and son stand side by side in awe of what they built together and say "look what we did!".  A treehouse is about what "we" did.

And I am starting to understand why God "takes so long".  It's taking so long cause He's let me be involved in the process...
He's a dad who wants to build something with me because He just wants to be with me.