Hiding in Plain Sight

“Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.”   

J.R.R. Tolkien,  The Hobbit

The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

Daniel 2:47

In The Hobbit Gandalf and his motley crew arrive on the perfect night to read a map that is only visible in certain moonlight. The directions on the map are very specific about when they would be able to see a door. Later in the book they arrive at the place where the door should be, but nothing is visible. Then, the light hits in just the right way and the keyhole becomes visible. It was all about the timing.

A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Missing in Action

In July the yarn shop was closed for two weeks so that we could redo the floors, which meant we had to move everything off the floor. So, inevitably, things got misplaced. In particular I have been looking for a lazy Susan that held scent testers and small bottles of Soak, a soap for hand washing. I discovered two boxes of the bigger bottles over the last few weeks, but the tray with smaller bottles was nowhere to be found.

This week an ornament sample also went missing, and as I wandered around the store looking, I sent up a prayer that God would show me where the items were located. Pat and I went out to her car to look one more time and within a minute I had put my hand on the ornament.

A little later a customer asked about the Soak, so I went in search of it one more time. I was looking around when I spotted it. I was stunned. Not because I had found it, but because of where it was: in plain sight. It was sitting on a plant stand up above all of the other boxes just inside the door to the back room at shoulder level. I had walked by it at least a hundred times in the last month, and so had several other people. We never saw it.

Appointed Time

There is a movie series titled Signed, Sealed, Delivered in which the main character has what they call a “divine delivery theory.” The characters work in the Dead Letter Office and try to deliver letters that have been damaged, sometimes years after the fact. The lead character believes that God leads him to letters and packages at just the right time they need to be delivered.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Habakkuk 2:3

God led me to the items I needed at the time I needed. I had been looking for Soak for months even though no one had asked for it. On the day the customer needed it, God let me see what was hidden in plain sight.

Sometimes we have to wait for God’s timing because He knows exactly when to deliver what we need. Not only, did I need to trust the timing, I needed to ask for God’s help. I found it after I prayed and not until then.

If we are looking for something, whether it’s a missing ornament or a need in our life, start with prayer. After we pray, then we have to trust God for His timing because He knows what we need and when we need it. When the time is appointed, he will make it as clear as the hand in front of your face, or in my case a lazy Susan in plain sight.