So Far So God

Lesson #2—Some Delays are Divine

Here is a second lesson I’ve learned. I’ve learned to appreciate what I call divine delays.

To be perfectly honest: I hate delays. I don’t like waiting at drive thru windows. I don’t like waiting at stop signs. But the worst are plane delays!

I’ve been flying hither and yon the last few weeks. I flew out to Sisters, Oregon to meet with my publisher a few weeks ago. I had to hop on three flights to get there and three flights to get back. On the way back I was pretty tired. I just wanted to get home to my wife and family. I caught my first flight at 9:30 AM PST. I almost threw up on the first flight. I didn’t have anything to eat and it was one of those jumper flights where the plane is so small you feel claustrophobic. I thought I was going to have to do the Flintstones and actually help run the plane down the runway and then flap my arms. I managed to survive the first leg of my journey. I made the second flight to Chicago. And then my final flight got cancelled and I had to wait two hours to catch the next flight. It felt like an eternity. I didn’t get back to DC till 10:30 PM EST. It was a long day!

Last week I flew to Denver for the day. I got up at 4 AM. I did a short video shoot there and I hopped a flight home. We got out on the tarmac and evidently the wind was too strong in DC so we couldn’t take off from Denver. Is there anything worse that getting stuck on the tarmac? I don’t understand airplane air conditioning. We have the technology to defy gravity and get this baby off the ground, but we can’t run the air conditioning until we’re in the air. When you’re on the tarmac it’s like being in a sauna fully clothed.

Alright, I feel better now! I hate plane delays!

I’m not the most patient person on the planet. When I get a vision I want it to happen yesterday. But I’ve learned that God cares more about who we become in the process of pursuing a God-given dream then the dream itself. And God isn’t going to get us to where He wants us to go until we’re ready to get there.

Not many people know this, but we actually had two contracts to purchase 201 F Street, NE. And the first contract fell through. I thought the dream was dead.

I still remember meeting with the former owners. It was two lawyers. And these guys couldn’t be more different. At first I thought it was a negotiating trick on their part. It was like good cop, bad cop! I still remember meeting with them and they spent half the time arguing with each other. Not only that, they involved their two wives and one of their sons in the negotiating. And I thought to myself, “No wonder they’ve never sold this property.” There were so many different personalities involved that it seemed like they’d never agree to sell the thing or agree on the same price.

When that first contract fell through I thought the dream was dead, but it was only delayed. And it was a good thing. Why? Because we weren’t ready yet. We didn’t have the people to pull it off. We didn’t have the resources to pull it off.