An Acceptable Time

[From 5/22/12]

"But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.  At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me."

(Psalm 69:13)

The Psalms are full of prayers... some bring praise, others lament.  Many are pleas of help and petition.  Those are the prayers that resonate with people so strongly.  "Help us now, Lord!" We all have prayers like that, don't we?

Psalm 69 is one of those prayers... sort of.  The author is in deep trouble and crying out to God for help.  But instead of asking for it "NOW!" the author recognizes that God will answer "at an acceptable time, in the abundance of your steadfast love."

An acceptable time.  God's "acceptable time," not ours (ours would have been "YESTERDAY!").  God sees the bigger picture and knows things beyond our scope of understanding.  The challenge for us is to TRUST that is the case.  How can we trust that?  Because the Bible is full of story after story of God's "abundant steadfast love."  When we can't see the future, trust God's love for our lives.

As we get ready to send Ezra to college in the fall, wondering if we've "done enough" as his parents to prepare him for life on his own... as we've been praying for God to grab a hold of him and not let go... we (I) have to trust that it will come to fruition "at an acceptable time... in the abundance of God's steadfast love."  AMEN to that!