When my daughter Willow was four years old, she had absolutely no concept of time! With the enthusiasm and energy that only a four-year old can display she will remind me of the fun we had “yesterday” at Walt Disney World or what happened “yesterday” when she went to the beach in Los Angeles with her Grandparents.  If I even attempt to correct her and remind her that the trip to Walt Disney World was last month, and the day at the beach was at the beginning of summer, she will insist (with all that four-year old sass) that these events happened “yesterday.”

Willow’s concept of “yesterday” was equally matched by her understanding of “tomorrow.” If I told her that we are going to get ice cream this weekend or have a play date with friends she will wake up each morning in great anticipation of what I promised her.  With the same four-year old sass she would ask me, “Mommy are we going to get ice cream today?”  When I respond with, “No we are going to get ice cream on Saturday” she quickly reminds me that I said we would get ice cream “tomorrow.” That pattern will persist each day until “tomorrow” becomes “today.”

Simply, Willow did not live her life with a linear concept of time.  All events are catalogued as what happened “yesterday,” “today,” and what will happen “tomorrow.” I spent many months trying to correct this by getting Willow to conform to organizing events by the day, week, month, and year.  In the midst of trying to teach her, God used Willow to teach me.

It is much easier to wait for a play date on the weekend, than it is to wait for a spouse, profitable business, debt freedom, promotion, or health.  We hear a promise from God and filter that promise through our lens of linear time.  The days become weeks, months, and years.  We replace the calendars on our walls, milestone birthdays come and go, technology evolves, our children go away to college and we put our dreams on the shelf, forget the promise of God, and contract the “disease of complacency.”

It becomes easier to say that it is “too late,” for that promise to come to pass, and many of us bury our dreams, often while secretly resenting those that we love the most.  After all, if I didn’t have to [fill in the blank] for [fill in the blank] I would be able to pursue MY dream! Or we’ll say, surely God has changed his mind about what He has promised me, it’s “too late” because I really messed up by [fill in the blank] and this is now “just the way life is.”

It is always too early to say it’s too late. Let’s let Willow show us how we should spend our time waiting:

Be Resolved

God made you a promise “yesterday,” that will come to pass without fail “tomorrow.” Even if yesterday was thirty years ago and tomorrow is twenty years from now every promise that God made will be fulfilled in your life.  Be resolved and allow this matter to be settled in your heart!  There is a unique assignment that God has for your life, a dream that he has placed in your heart, and a promise that He has yet to fulfill.  The word that He released over your life “yesterday” will come to pass.

Believe the Word of God

Just as Willow has absolute faith in my word as her loving parent, we must also have absolute faith in the Word of God and what He has promised us because our Heavenly Father is the ultimate loving parent.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and the plan that He has for your life will come to pass without regard for the confinement of time.   Unlike the casual manner in which we use our words, the Word of God has a strategic purpose and accomplishes without fail what He purposed it to do.  Believe the Word of God.

Do Not Allow Well-Meaning People to Change Your Level of Expectation

As Willow’s mother, I had the best intentions in trying to bring correction to her thinking about time.  I wanted to make sure that she was prepared to go into the world being able to communicate with others using a common language and method of understanding.  I was setting her up to “fit in,” when she was designed to “stand out.” There will be well meaning loved ones in your life that might think they are protecting you from ridicule, disappointment, or failure and in doing so may convince you to “play yourself small” or put a ceiling on your dream that was meant to reach the stars.  Don’t allow well-meaning people to change your level of expectation.

Start Each Day with Anticipation of Your Promise

Willow spoke her promise each day until “tomorrow became today.” Do not put your dream on the shelf, or bury it until it is non-existent.  Find your inner “four-year old sass” and the gumption inside of you that will relentlessly pursue your promise by praying without ceasing, speaking your promise into existence, and exhausting every resource towards pursuit of your dream.  Don’t underestimate the power of starting each day with anticipation of your promise!

Have Absolutely No Concept of Time

Who told you that you were “too old” or “too young” to pursue your dream?  Who told you that it was “too late” and that the mistakes that you have made have overridden God’s plan for you?  Your level of faith should not be tied to the turn of a calendar page of the passing of a milestone birthday.  Have absolutely no concept of time!    God made you a promise “yesterday,” and you will surely receive that promise “tomorrow.”   It is always too early to say it’s too late!