Daily Devotionals
2021
Sunday, December 19
Judy Engibous
In my job as a contracts manager, I frequently have to decide between priorities. It can be stressful, so it’s ironic that in mid-October, I found myself stressing out about one of the decisions for my upcoming vacation. It initially looked like a no-brainer: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art deserves a full day or more, and the Tuesday of my trip was the only day I didn’t have anything planned. The logical thing was to get a ticket for Tuesday at 10 am when it opened. But I hesitated.
I did what I sometimes do when I can’t make up my mind and reminded myself that not every decision needs to be made immediately. I also sometimes ask: What are the values? What are the priorities?
A day or two later I realized that even though I love the Met, Tuesday was my first full day in NYC, and I didn’t want a tight timeframe for getting to the museum. I wanted to breathe in the experience of being in one of my favorite cities and to explore the unfamiliar neighborhood of my hotel. I then booked admission for 11 am. Waiting had allowed me to know my values and priorities.
Both of these passages show God’s people longing and waiting for Him to act, with a gap between God’s promise and His provision. Just as our ways (and sometimes values and priorities) are not God’s ways (Isaiah 55:8), His timing is not always our timing. Ephesians 1:9 refers to God’s plan as “a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.” As we look toward the return of our Savior, may we trust God’s full and perfect timing. It was perfect the first time. It will be perfect again.
Judy has been attending Park Street Church since 1986. She’s passionate about food and travel (especially to NYC and Switzerland, where she lived from age eight to fifteen), and Park Street’s online Morning Prayer. She is originally from Michigan, though she hasn’t lived there since she was eight.