Thursday, April 11, 2013

Living while I Wait...


I think one of the hardest things to do in life is wait. It doesn’t really matter what it is but that time between when you know of something you want or need and when you actually get it can feel like forever. For someone like me that likes things to go according to plan, waiting can be especially stressful and trying because I start wanting to speed things up.  Have you ever been impatient for something to happen? Have you ever asked God, or at least wanted to, what was taking Him so long? It’s human nature to want things NOW. I mean we live in a “microwave” society. We want to speed up every process to get to what we want in lightning fast time. But what do you do when your situation is not changing quickly? How do you react when your season of waiting has stretched out over years?  God dropped something really simple but extremely profound in my spirit when I asked these very questions. Keep living while you wait.

There are so many scriptures in the Bible about waiting on the Lord and many examples of people that waited for things to happen. Job is probably one of the people we think of immediately. He had some of the most difficult and terrible tests to survive in his life and yet through it all he waited on God to deliver on His promise of restoration. It took 40 chapters for us to see Job restored but through it all, He never spoke against God. He hurt, he wept, and he prayed but he stayed steadfast; famously saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15a NKJV) Many times, Job’s friends questioned and discouraged him, but He kept living and testifying to God’s power. When your family and friends disappoint you and your worldly possessions fall away, can you trust God enough to keep living while you wait on Him to move?

Imagine that your life is like a car. When you turn it on, there are so many options that you have. You can put it in reverse or go forward. You can shift into different gears. You can warm it up or cool it off. Some of us have put the car in park and let it run idle. You aren’t going anywhere, you aren’t progressing, you’re just standing still. You have taken God’s word of “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) literally. This verse is in the middle of a chapter about how mighty God’s presence and power is. It’s a description about just how much God does NOT need our help. It is about getting out of the way and resting in Him. It is not about sitting still. It’s time to put your life back in gear.

I want to speak life into your waiting season and as I do, I speak into my own. Sometimes all God is waiting for is our faith to shine through. In order to do that, you have to live. You have to plan. You have to EXPECT! While you are waiting on God, keep living! As tempting as it is to throw in the towel and do our own thing, we can’t. Think about what God has told you…what He has promised.  He is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent...” (Numbers 23:19)  If he promised you deliverance, a husband, provision…He has to do it. He doesn’t go back on His word.  Lamentations 3:25 says “the Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.”  I encourage you to keep living as you wait. “Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Ps. 27:14 ESV)

The promise will come to pass, if you faint not! AMEN…

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