THE "BIG HAND" ON GOD'S CLOCK

Along the fence row at the end of our street there are many blackberry vines on which we patiently (?) wait every year to bloom, produce small, green berries which turn red and then black. When they are fully black they are the sweetest and will easily fall into your hand when picked. If we get there before other watchful eyes we can have at least one big blackberry pie. If we are impatient and try to pick them before they are fully ripe they are not sweet and very disappointing. Waiting until the perfect time results in a very beautiful pie or preserves.
Waiting is not easy for us. It is human nature to want things now, in our time and in our way, which brings about disappointing results. But when we are dealing with an omniscient, omnipotent, all wise God, waiting on His time and His ways will always bring about a beautiful ending (Eccl.3:11).
Isaiah 40:28-31, is a beautiful illustration of how “waiting” on the Lord lifts us above the worldly thinking and lifts us up as on wings of eagles to soar above the problems, questions and hurts of our circumstances. In the Hebrew the word “wait” means “to bind together (by twisting).” I believe this is a picture of us patiently and expectantly yielding our desires and plans to the Father of Lights until our will is so blended with His that we are one with Him and therefore joyfully wait for His miracle in our situation. I’ll share a very poignant experience that taught me this very valuable lesson on waiting on the Lord.
Mark met Ladan at ETBU during the hostage crisis in Iran and for fear of her student visa being revoked and her being extradited, they married in 1980. In 1992, Ladan, then the mother of three children, was told she had cancer with a prognosis of three years. Ladan was from Iran and had been raised a Moslem. Her father sent her and her three brothers to the U.S for safety after the Shah had been deposed and a radical Khomeini had replaced him having all those loyal to the Shah either killed, imprisoned or their jobs compromised to the point of no influence. Ladan’s family was very loyal and even friends with the Shaw.
Ladan made a profession of faith while in college (she later said it was so the students would stop harassing her to become a Christian). Because after several years of marriage she seemed to revert back to her Moslem faith, Mark lost hope that her profession of faith in Jesus was genuine. He had shared his fear with us but in my heart I had peace about her salvation. So as we prayed and waited on the Lord it seemed as if I couldn’t pray with faith for her physical healing but prayed for a confirmation of her salvation.
After three years of Ladan battling the cancer Mark called us one afternoon saying he was taking her to the hospital because she had gone into respiratory arrest. We quickly packed a bag and traveled to the hospital close to Cedar Hill where they lived. All in God’s plans, Mark was not there when we arrived but had gone to the airport to pick up Ladan’s Father who had planned his trip a month before. The nurses led us into Ladan’s room where she was alone. She was hooked up to all kinds of life support and was in a coma. I noticed her eyes were open and were dry and glazed over with a film.
I called the nurse in and asked her why they hadn’t closed her eyes. The nurse said it was because if there was any awareness or responsiveness in Ladan it would be in her eyes.
I began talking to her and stroking her dark hair that had grown back since her Chemo. I then felt very impressed to have Wendell agree with me in prayer – to come, in the mighty name of Jesus, against destruction, deceit, the powers of darkness and spiritual death. As I began praying this in my spirit large tears began coming from Ladan’s dry eyes and rolling down her face. This was the miraculous confirmation I had been praying for. What joy and peace filled my heart. If I had not waited on the Lord for His perfect timing I would have missed this miracle. The best things are worth waiting for!
At Ladan’s memorial service here in Marshall her English professor and close friend and another close friend who had treated her as a daughter, shared with us how after Ladan professed faith in Jesus Christ she wanted to be baptized. Then in the church chapel she planned a public testimonial of her conversion. She came down the aisle in a white robe (signifying her robe of righteousness) and carrying a lit candle (signifying the light of Jesus in her life). We don’t understand a lot that went on in her life since then but we know the devil is the deceiver but he couldn’t snatch Ladan out of the Father’s hands. Hallelujah!!

The ‘big hand” on God’s clock is like a miracle wand. When His “big hand” reaches His purposed hour our ugly circumstances become beautiful. (Eccl.3:11)