This morning a phrase, perhaps it is one of his lodging in some back place in my memory came to the fore, “the delight of delayed gratification.” On second thoughts I think this one is inferior to what he would have written so it must be mine! The truth is, that delay is so much part of life in the way that God has structured it. In the book of Hebrews three words come together in my mind, they are, promise, patience and then possession. They will surely be intertwined in the lives of those who are learning in the school of Christ. I noticed that the word ‘promise’ and ‘promises’ and ‘promised’ occur at least seventeen times in the Hebrews epistle. In a number of those references Abraham is the focus of the discussion.
God made promise to Abraham, and confirmed it by an oath, Abraham believed but it was only after he had patiently waited that he came into possession of that promised. The delay between promise and possession tested him and his wife Sarah sorely. Actually, in part at least, they failed the test and complicated their lives and ours too, by acting impatiently in the period of delay and bringing Ishmael into the world. Perhaps we can add another word to these three beginning with ‘p’ and say that even through their impatient deflection God was working to their perfection. James writes in his letter that patience has the perfect work. The testing of faith by periods of delay produces steadfastness in our character and if we allow that steadfastness to have its full effect it brings forth something perfectly mature.
Now I am thinking of the tasteless fruit we often have to eat. It has been forced under glass, to satisfy the instant gratification of those longing for strawberry’s the plants are not allowed to bring forth their fruit in their season, if they were permitted to do so, the richness of the taste and perfection of flavor would be obtained. There is no other way to enjoy the fully developed taste unless we allow things to grow and develop in the season allotted them. Now I switch my musing to the music realm and the vital place that silence plays in a piece of music. The delay between notes in a melody is as important as the notes played, in fact, those delays, those silences are an intrinsic part of the melody. Those long awaited resolutions arrived at after tension creating harmonies are all the richer for the delay in their coming when all is in the flow of the music. What is called a ‘perfect cadence’ is a chord of tension that flows on to one to which it is linked and brings it home to resolution.
So often in western music we find that the longed for resolution is delayed in various ways by the composer, we linger in the ‘unfinished’ state and then the composer brings us home and fulfillment of the promise implied in the tension is completed. Herein is a vital part of the beauty of music. It is wonderful to contemplate God as composing and orchestrating all things, employing many notes of varying lengths and silences and delays as much part of what He is doing as the words He speaks to us and the obedience we render. We must learn to render loving obedience to Him in the waiting as well as the working. When He makes promises to us, with them come the enablement to believe Him, but, with some of those promises there is a necessary waiting, a delay before their fulfillment will come. To add patience to our faith is essential to being able to live in the music of God’s composing. It has been interesting to me to hear certain pianists, even in church sometimes, they are always in a hurry, somehow always a bit ahead in playing the next phrase in the song, shortening the rests, insensitive to the delays written into the music.
I have also noticed how some of those who make a habit of that often attempt to force the pace in the churches of which they are a part. But to wait patiently in the times of silence and delay as we long for the fulfillment of the promises is not easy. We are tried, tempted to act out of frustration, precipitously, maybe even to cast aspersions upon God, doubting His integrity and love for us for why should He make us wait? So it goes, so we learn, so we are rebuked of Him, so we are sometimes left to bring forth an Ishmael of our own but God continues with His glorious work. We must learn that He really is ‘unresting’ and unhasting’. Never sleeping on the job, never forgetting His purpose in His composing of the masterpiece He is creating.
As I pondered these things today my mind was on ‘Holy Saturday’, when Christ was in the silence of death. He was in the tomb, with all its mystery, what a delay it was, yet we know that the perplexing silence that seemed to stop the music of promise, this Sabbath rest when all appeared to be waiting soon issued forth in glorious fulfillment, the triumph chords of resurrection sounded on the first day morning, “He is risen’ was the cry and so we in ways have our times of delay and silence in the music and we wait in patience of faith for the obtaining of the promised possession and are perfected in the process. Our Lord may not always come when we want Him to, but He’ll be there right on time.
