God Is Never Late

God’s never late. God’s never early, either.

Years ago, when I was pregnant with our first child, my hubby had applied for a teaching job at the same school that I worked at. He interviewed for the position, had all the right credentials he needed, so we thought he was a shoe-in for the job. We thought he had it in the bag. He interviewed for the job in June. Though, he hadn’t heard from my principal for over a month, we thought for sure he’d get the job. God knew he needed a full-time job. I was about seven months pregnant and unsure of what my future held. Due to some weird circumstances, he was currently working as a part-time tutor.

My position was an Academic Advisor, so that afforded me the month of July off of work. I had to go back to work on August 1, to finish the class schedule. There weren’t many people back to work at this time except for my principal, who I thought was sure to hire the hubby. I came back to my job, seven months pregnant, in August, with the air conditioning broken. I wasn’t feeling great. The hubby was going to call that day, to find out about the job. I was sure he was going to get good news.  I needed good news. I was hot, uncomfortable, and pregnant. I needed to know, at least, that my hubby had a new job to look forward to. I needed to know that our future was secure.

The hubby called me, while I sat, sweating in my hot office, seven months pregnant and emotional. He didn’t get the job. Something about, they didn’t want a married couple working at the same school. It could cause problems. I was floored! He didn’t get the job??? But we needed that job! God knew we needed that job. What we were going to do now? I wanted to cry, but then I would look like a total cliche, sitting in my hot office, seven months pregnant and crying my eyes out. I saved it for when I got home.

I didn’t know what we were going to do. I had to throw myself into my job, as it became really, really busy, trying to finish the class schedule. The hubby still had his tutoring job. I resigned myself to believing that the decision was made for me-I would have to keep working after the baby was born.

Then, just barely a week before the labor day weekend, a voice inside my head told me to call this one school district’s job hotline. I did. I didn’t know why I should call the hotline. Nobody was looking for teachers, a week before labor day weekend, just before school was about to start.

But lo and behold, this district was. They were looking to fill four science teacher positions, the exact subject the hubby taught. I immediately called the hubby and told him to call  ASAP. He did. He called me right back. They’d scheduled him for an interview. Literally, days before school was starting, the hubby would be interviewing for a teaching job.

The hubby had the interview on Friday. The Friday before labor day weekend. The school would start the following Wednesday. We would have to wait for three days to find out if the hubby got the job. This time, we prayed and prayed about the job, not confident, like we were the last time.

Saturday came and went. Sunday came and went. Then Monday, we kept praying through the whole weekend. The hubby was going to call them, first thing, Tuesday morning. Then he would call me for whatever the results.

I couldn’t do anything, but stare at the phone that Tuesday morning. The hubby called. And by the sound of his voice, I knew he had the job. He tried to pretend he didn’t, but he couldn’t hide it. They wanted him to come in that day if he could, because Wednesday was to be his first day of school! He got the job! A day and a half, before school was to start, the hubby had a brand new teaching job!

The Christian life is always a process. God is never late or early. Think about it. If he answered our prayers, immediately and gave us exactly what we wanted, when we asked, what would we ever learn? Firstly, we wouldn’t need God on a daily basis. Secondly, we wouldn’t really rely on Him. We could just throw up our prayers at Him, then continue with our day. But that’s not how it works. God reveals Himself to us through every hardship, every request, every prayer. Our hardships draw us closer to Him and that’s always what He wants from us.