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sometimes, we just don't get to know!

I came across a verse the other day.
...funny how that happens when I take the time to pull out my Bible and get quiet for a minute, even if that "quite" is while the kids are right beside me watching a cartoon...

It's a verse I've read many times, one I've heard preached all my life, one that's quoted any time people talk about the day Christ will return to call us to eternity:

"[Jesus] said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:7 & 8)

So like I said, I've read those verses a hundred times. This time, though, one part struck me a little differently:
"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority."
Huh.
Obviously that pertains to the second coming, but it made me think of something else when I read it.

See, I have this deep-set need to have things all planned out. It's something I've struggled with for a long time (and probably something about me that other people have had to struggle through before I even realized what was going on, to be honest) and will most likely struggle with for quite a while longer.

Not only do I want to know what's ahead, it would be so much nicer if I had a timeline--you know, a 10-year plan (hey, I would be content with even a 5-year!) that would spell everything out for me, let me in on the secret.

Apparently, though, that's not really how God works.
Instead we are told to trust Him, to have faith in His plan, 
to follow.

Like a little kid, though, I want to know why...
..why can't You just give me a little peak?
...why shouldn't I get a glimpse of the schedule?
...why do I have to wait?
...why can't You just tell me what to expect...and when to expect it?
...why does Your timing seem so crazy? 

I don't think God has a problem with my questions.
Sometimes, though, we get the answer Jesus gave His disciples here when they started asking questions, as the Message puts it:
"You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business."     

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Thoughts? I would love to hear them!
~Mandy

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