Why is it when you are in a hurry that a red-light seems to last for eternity, when an unexpected telephone call from an old friend can go on for an hour and feel like five minutes? Time never seems so slow as when I am waiting to reunite with my family after a long absence. This past week my husband was in Colorado, my son was at camp and my daughter was on a Choir Tour. For the first time in a long time, I found myself alone in my own home. At first it was great, I slept in and took my time about entering my life. Then, I focused on a book deadline that I needed to catch up on. But, by Friday I was burned out of working on my book, I was lonely and sad. I just wanted my family home to fill up my time again.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says; “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Everything will be made beautiful in its time. There are so many times that things don’t look beautiful, and you cannot understand how they could be made beautiful. Give it time. Revelation 10:6-7 give us a little glimpse into the way God sees time. “And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, said “’There will be no more delay? But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets’.” There is certainly a mystery to time.
This past Easter we fulfilled a promise to our son and bought him two baby ducks. One was a mallard and the other a white duck. The mallard was smaller, yellow with dark spots, his name was Little Man. The white duck, larger and solid yellow received the name Sugar. They lived in our garage for a couple weeks, safe and warm under a light. After about two weeks, it was clear they needed more room. Our neighbor helped us make a Duck Resort on the side of our house, complete with swimming pool, a gated community to guard them from our dog. The ducks grew and grew and grew. It was time to release them to the pond in our neighborhood. We chose Mother’s Day. It seemed like the right time to us. Proud son and parents walked carrying the mallard (who we wondered whether it was a female) and our white duck. We brought them to the pond and set them down with some other ducks, four male mallards and a white duck who appeared friendly enough to us.
To our horrifying surprise, this little gang of ducks were very aggressive and cruel. Our white duck held her own against their fierce competitiveness, but our sweet “Little Man” mallard was in severe trouble, as her true gender became apparent, and the four males attacked her. Amid a lot of screaming, crying and yelling for my husband to jump in the nasty pond and rescue her, (He found a way to get her out without himself entering the cesspool) we were able to recapture Little Woman, note the name change, and bring her home. After some frantic e-mails a biologist wrote back and informed us that if we waited until June our sweet female mallard could be released without danger.
As it turns out, she decided the perfect time to leave our home. When she could fly over the fence, we knew the time had come. We returned her to the pond where she found the duck peers, not so crazed as mating season was over, and she was eagerly received into a bond of friendship and peace.
Little Woman taught us that our time is not necessarily the right time. This is a spiritual lesson I must learn over and over again. I need to learn to trust God’s time, and believe that there is no delay that doesn’t have an explanation that may only be understood in heaven.
