Trusting in His Timing

By Dr. Sharitta Gross

My penchant for challenging God’s timing began early on in my life, beginning with my decision of when it was time for me to walk. As a toddler in a walker, I apparently loved sprinting, which included following family members and friends around my maternal grandmother’s house. At one point I decided to follow someone to the kitchen and went flying down a flight of stairs. My anxiousness (and curiosity) led to my later needing braces to close a gap that developed between my front teeth.

Another moment when I questioned God’s timing as was during what I felt was the untimely passing of my maternal grandmother. It felt untimely because I saw her as my refuge—no matter how old I became, her lap was the best seat in her home. During her battle with kidney failure, we shared a rare moment wherein I visited her alone. While holding her hand I admitted that I didn’t know how I was going to do this (life) without her. I laid on her and openly cried, as her refusal to go beyond eating more than ice cubes or a popsicle signaled to me that she wasn’t coming back from this. Kidney failure was winning the war, yet she managed to give me a reminder of how true love lives eternally, saying with her hoarse voice: “I’m not going anywhere.”

It was time for me to become a woman who believed so strongly in her ability to become anything she set her mind to, she no longer needed to seek reassurance of such by her maternal grandmother. Grandma Ella had already planted that seed and was deserving of the rest she received in 2014.

Then there was the time that I was removed from my doctoral program for a year. I was blinded by grief and feeling that my dream of becoming a doctor had been snatched from me without reason. I was no stranger to adversity, so I was unable to see what those close to my situation could. I was in for a spiritual battle like centered around a huge loss. Had I not been made to sit out for a year by my dissertation chair, my hunger and eagle-eye focus would likely not have surfaced. Once readmitted into the program, my ‘why’ was unwavering, as was my dissertation topic. That was not the case prior to the one-year hiatus.

So, what did these three scenarios teach me? Forcing what doesn’t fit is like putting a comma or semicolon where a period should be. Inappropriate punctuation alters your story. This also means that we must be careful to not allow someone else’s story to become ours just because their circumstances were similar; we are built and fulfill our life purposes differently.

The most important lesson that I learned is that delayed is not denied. It is either a season of/preparation ground or protection from what you cannot yet see. Wait on Him. Trust me—it’s so worth it.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-8 (NKJV)

Sharitta Gross is a proud Rochester native raised on the west side of the city. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Cheryl Speranza Leadership Institute.
This past May she changed her title to ‘Doctor’, receiving her doctorate of Education from St. John Fishers’ Executive Leadership program.
She plans to find creative ways to elevate her research on academically successful undergraduate Black males in STEM disciplines at a predominately White institution to leave the field of education, her community and the world a little better than she found it. All this while living her absolute best life and traveling when she can to create new memories with family and loved ones!