I am one of those folks who always has an idea… projects and plans… full of promise and potential! I used to get frustrated when I couldn’t make them happen, so many things get in the way all the time, it seemed! I would moan and whine and carry on about what a great idea I had, defending the brilliance of the notion. To not be able to make a great plan or project happen is an annoying thing. Other times, we have other ideas that we think are a bit bland or mediocre, and they seem to really take off. What’s going on!?
Same thing happens sometimes we hear something. Maybe the first time we hear a thought, we think, “Wow, I knew that but had no words to express that with.” But more often than not, we’ve heard an idea, quotation, belief, etc 43 times, and somehow, for some reason, the stars line up and when we hear it for the 44th time, ‘it clicks.’ It matters. The timing is right. For example, I have read this gospel passage numerous times, but yesterday when I read it, I immediately felt a sense of peace and joy. Somehow, everything is ‘as its supposed to be.’ That doesn’t happen each time I read, and it’s a sense that’s a gift, not something I can conjure up.
I learned on a retreat though, once, that so often we have a great plan, the idea is perfect, the project important, the words life-giving, but the timing isn’t quite right. It’s not necessarily that our perfect plans, words and projects stink but rather—
—The world is just not ready!
Considering how little control we have over time, it is amazing that the timing is as perfect as it is as often as it is!
Perhaps, we need to start asking ourselves, when the timing has worked out, why? What is happening in either our world or the world around us that makes this the right action or words or movement at this moment in time? Asking ourselves this question may not alter the plan or idea at all, but help us to understand Divine Intervention a bit better. Asking questions about timing, may offer us insights on our experiences of the joy and peace that comes knowing that we are on the same page as the Lord.
Journal Questions
- Recount a time when you had a great idea or plan, but the timing was not right. How did you feel at the moment and how do you feel looking back?
- Recall a time when you had a fairly mediocre idea or plan, but it took off. What were your perceptions at the time and what are they now, as you look in the rearview mirror?
- Detail a time when you had a great idea or plan and the timing was right. How did you know? What were the consequences of this ‘right-plan-right-time’ thing?
Writing to Pray 