wait for it - it will come

The world is a mess. The UN Security Council passed the resolution calling for a cease fire, but yet the conflict has escalated. Hundreds will probably die in Iraq today. The very future of our planet is in question with global warming. And poverty abounds. I cleaned out my fridge and cabinets yesterday - lots of post-dated unedible food that went into the trash. Of course, what is post-dated and uneidble to me is food to a hungry person, as the contents of my ransacked trash can on the curb attest.

It is quite easy to be weary and ask, "Hey ... God ... where are you?". Just like our buddy Habakkuk in today's first reading, one of my favorites:

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal? ...
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?

Ok, so Habakkuk's lament is a bit more poetic than my "Hey God where are you?". Maybe that's why he got an answer from the heavens:

Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.

If it delays, wait for it. It will surely come, it will not be late. A good reminder that God's time is not our time. Reminds me of this bit from the beginning of groovy sister constitutions, another favorite of mine:

Peace is God's gift to us,
given in Christ,
a gift we experience and enjoy now,
though not in its completeness.
We believe that peace
points beyond itself in hope
to the fullness of time.

Amen