In His time...but when??

When I got home from Monday, after being gone most of the weekend, I made a point to read the passages from my "Power of a Praying Wife" calendar. December 10th's entry spoke to me, especially in light of the recent Sunday School class content that I was wrestling with.

God has a time for everything and He works in us what needs to be done to prepare us for what is ahead. Having a sense of God's timing brings the peace to wait on the Lord for it.

Of course, do I have a "sense of God's timing?" I am not even sure how one comes to obtain a "sense of His timing." I know that His timing isn't what I would do, but I can't see the big picture of the final chapter like He can. I don't mind not knowing the outcome, but I really dislike not knowing how long it is going to take to get there. For example, I love to read books. I don't even mind lengthy books. I am rarely tempted to skip to the last chapter and see how it ends. On the rare occasions I have done this, I find very little joy in finishing the book. However, I like to know how long the book is. I like to be able to prepare myself for about how long I will be working on it. My problem with God's timing is that, I don't know how it ends, or when it ends. This definitely takes control away from me. This brings me to a quote that was in my Prasso study tonight. I am finishing up the sections on forgiveness. I was definitely blessed by them, and challenged. But this quote was one that I want to share:

If God is to take control, we must lose control. And, so long as we are in control, we are really out of control. The willingness to lose control of all our circumstances is prerequisite to our finding our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fear of losing control, even though what we are doing is not working, is the greatest fear that any of us faces. The prospect of losing the familiar, even though painful, for that which is unknown can be a frightening prospect.

quoted from Charles R. Solomon, Handbook to Happiness