Chapter 12: Gods time is not your time

The hardest lesson for a visionary is to understand that where what he knows about the future fits into Gods timing… We do not say that Leen is a real prophet, but its true that God gives him flashes of insight or knowledge about the future, future developments or projects to do or books to write. But when is it Gods time of fullfilment?
For example: Leen knew already in the early eighties that one day they would have their own centre. So you believe such a promise of God and the next step is, you need to act upon the promise of God. Leen and Ria travelled many kilometres the years 1984 and 1985 to find the right location. All type of centres, big mansions, huge buildings had been visited but no there was no money in the pocket to buy it… Finally in 1985 we found a very special centre, that had been built for exhibitions, to sell flowers and plants and was situated near our old offices. We desperately needed new space, as the office in those days was in 2 apartments, which we had connected in a normal 8-floor block; plus a garage and we had a lot of stuff in the attic and cellars of family and friends. We thought this centre would be the answer of our dreams and prayers. So we could even sign the lease-contract with the bank and we had for a short while access to this nice site… but the deal felt through… so we lost this property.
No we had not heard Gods voice wrong… the problem was one of timing. So when we lost this property we just moved on praying that God would provide. After 3 years we got a call from a friend who worked at a real-estate office. She said that a schoolbuilding came for sale. We went over and signed the contract. That building was just 2 km away from the old apartments. And when we moved(1989) everything fitted in and we all enjoyed the extra space. And to be honest. The other site would have been too small in a short time. This schoolbuilding had 500 square meters for meetings, for offices, training rooms, etc., and we got 2200 square meter playground, including the possibility to build more. And that was needed, so in 2003 we added a new 2 floor wing of another 500 square meter to the building and in 2005 we could realise a real concert- and exhibition-hall added to the centre. And we must admit, that the location of our centre is a blessing how easy it can be reached with public-transportation or by car.

There have been other situations when the right time for something is not clear. Leen wrestles sometimes with this problem. He has no answer to it, why the real moment remains hidden. So the best solution is still keep trying, work hard, have trust, have perseverence, ora et labora… pray and work.