Today I Love God's Perfect Timing...Slice of Life 24 of 31

Today I Love God's perfect timing.  This is a tough one to type, especially after what I posted yesterday about a young man in our community losing his life in an automobile accident.  It is so difficult to see God and His hand during trying times.  As hard as it is, when I stand back and look at things, I know in the depths of my heart that He is in on His throne and He is in control.  We don't always (in fact, hardly ever) get to see the final outcome of His hand at work.  Sometimes, though, He gives us a glimpse and with our hindsight we can look back and see that, Ohhhh, THAT was when He was working for our good.  Today gave me several of such precious glimpses.
      The photo above is of one of the hymnals at our tiny little (growing) church...it is resting on a brand new chair in our brand new sanctuary in our brand new building.  A friend suggested it would have been a good photo for last Sunday's blog post about our first service in the new place.  She's right.  The juxtaposition of old resting on new, while new rests on old is just perfect.  It reminds me that the thirty or more years ago when the founders of the church purchased this hymnal and all its cousins they knew God would bring The Man and me to this little place.  They of course didn't know it would be US, but they knew there would be SOMEONE, and they were faithful to that vision.  They played their part in God's perfect timing.  
       The photo below is one piece of the scripture with which we were challenged during this morning's service.  As Jesus made his way "up to" Jerusalem, he knew every single one of the gritty details of that upcoming week, this week that we still remember some 2000+ years later.  He knew those details before any one of them came to be.  He knew as the people shouted "Hosanna!" on Sunday, that those very same people would be shouting "Crucify him!" by Friday.  He knew Judas would betray him, he knew Peter would deny him, he knew the pain of the cross before he ever set foot in the city.  And yet "up to" Jerusalem he rode.  He played his part in God's perfect timing.  

       I was thrilled at service this morning to visit with a friend I had not seen in quite a long time.  She had been seriously questioning God's timing for the past year or so, but today she shared a praise with me that proved to her that He had her story worked out all along.  She quit a job on faith and the very next day was offered a job that she has been dreaming of for some time.  She played her part in God's perfect timing.  
      The pastor's wife told me last week of a man who is now attending our church who was in such pain a few Christmases ago that he was considering committing suicide.  That very night someone from our church came unannounced to his door with a plate of cookies.  He suddenly knew someone loved and cared for him without even knowing him.  He is due to be baptized this spring.  The cookie bakers that Christmas played their part in God's perfect timing. 
      I have no idea what God is going to do with the death of this young, vibrant man from our community, or how He will work through the circumstances surrounding it.  But I do know that He is in control and He will bring triumph out of tragedy.  He has perfect timing.