During the pandemic, the repercussions of delays impacted service. I was chatting with a contractor who was unable to get windows delivered in a timely manner. He ordered them during the summer but they did not arrive until January, and installing them in winter was untenable. His customer was reluctant to expose her children to the cold while they were brushing their teeth. 

 

The world of toothpaste and glass depends on trucks and shipping containers, which in turn relies on roads and waterways. I don't always picture such details when I peruse the options on the grocery shelves, but most items have weathered a journey. Getting from the store to my bathroom is the easy part. 

 

There are other commodities that I am in need of. Patience, when the driver in front of me is slow to respond. Forgiveness, when the friend who offered to show up for a project doesn't. Trust, when the circumstances around a medical procedure seem ominous. 

 

Yet these collectibles are unfettered by supply chains. In fact the availability is endless. What is more, the delivery is closer than my own breath. 

 

"But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: you are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay". Psalm 70

 

"If we pray from love and faith and focus on or seek only what is heavenly and spiritual, something resembling a revelation emerges while we pray. It discloses itself in our emotions in the form of hope, comfort, or an inward stirring of joy." Secrets of Heaven 2535, Emanuel Swedenborg

 

It turns out that God is protective of His children, too.