He's an On-Time God

The wedding venue was everything the bride dreamed it would be.

A gorgeous gazebo on a lake with a canopy of white lights floating over the guests’ seating area would be perfect for an outdoor wedding at night.

A deck and patio fit for a king to escort his princess daughter down the aisle. Even a huge banquet hall for a lavish reception to follow.

It would be unbearably hot in August, but the trade-off for getting married outside would be worth the discomfort of the heat.

Her future mother-in-law caught her eye. “What if it rains? Will you be okay with getting married in the banquet hall if it rains?”

“Yes.” She gave a confident smile. “But maybe it won’t come to that.”

Months passed while she planned, shopped for a wedding dress, picked out decorations, cakes, rings, and tuxedos. The week of the wedding arrived, and a whirlwind of activity turned the wedding venue into a romantic fairyland of twinkling lights, gauzy bows, and an array of fuchsia, tangerine, and canary flowers.

Her excitement knew no bounds.

Then the unthinkable happened.

It rained.

And it didn’t just rain, it poured. A gully-washer of magnificent proportions.

For hours.

But suddenly, with less than two hours to spare before the ceremony, the rain disappeared. And under a cloudy sky with the temperature so perfect nobody even thought about the weather, she married the love of her life in an outdoor ceremony in August in Mississippi.

That bride is now my beautiful daughter-in-law.

We spoke on the phone as the wind and rain tore through the gazebo and flattened the gauzy bows her aunt and I had tied on only an hour before. I was in the banquet hall putting the last minute touches on the tables. She was in a cabin across the lake, being very brave, but I could hear the disappointment in her voice, knowing the wedding she dreamed of was going to be altered by the rain that refused to stop.

At the time, the rain seemed like the worst possible thing that could have happened, but you know what? God smiled on that wedding when He sent the rain. Hard to believe, but it's true! The rain dropped the temperature to a perfect 70-75 degrees, and the cloudy skies were a photographer’s dream for the shots of the wedding party before the wedding. Sorry, those photos aren't available yet. :(

The rain was just one of the many, many smiles God bestowed on us for my precious children's wedding day.

I wanted to share this with you today because it really hit home to me that when things aren’t going according to our plan, they’re still going according to God’s plan. Always.

That contract we didn’t get, the agent who didn’t sign us, the promotion we missed, or that contest we didn’t win, or________(fill in the blank!) … It’s all part of God’s plan.

Keep doing your best, stay cheerful, thankful, optimistic, and trusting. Even the rain that looks like it’s going to ruin your perfect day might actually make everything better than you ever dreamed!

If you trust and obey, God will meet your need in his perfect timing.