The Waiting

 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5

In the age of instant ‘everything,’ waiting can be very difficult for me just as I suspect it also is for many other people.  Modern technology is both a blessing and a curse.  Don’t get me wrong, anyone that knows me would attest that I would personally have a hard time not being able to view someone’s back to school photos on a whim or play Pokémon GO (yes, I am STILL hooked all of these years later) in my spare time. 

I call it a curse, because people expect to always reach you on a wireless device, via email, by texting, at any given time, at any given point, on any given day.   We have grown so accustomed to having everything instantaneously, no wonder it is so hard for us to be patient when God requires a season of waiting in our lives!

It’s in those moments that we are waiting on God to bless us that we must rely on our trust in Him.  When we choose not to trust in God with our needs, we become fearful and anxious.  The Bible is filled with many examples of God’s people remaining faithfully patient and trusting in Him, and no story better illustrates this than the night the disciples encountered a storm on the Sea of Galilee.   Every disciple on that boat thought that they were surely going to die, that was, until they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them.  With a simple command, Jesus silenced the storms and waves to be still.

The disciples learned how to trust Jesus during the worst of times, so while we are patiently waiting on Him to answer our prayers, chances are He is wanting us to reach out to Him and wait for His outstretched arm.

St. Judy's Comet

 

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." Proverbs 1:8

Our youngest son, Elijah, was the master of prolonging our family's nightly process of going to bed when he was younger.   Now that he's older, I do miss the litany of reasons he would come up with at bedtime to stay up later; tummy-aches, hungry, bad dreams, spiders, the clown from 'IT' to simply just needing to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time. 

Just like any child has trouble understanding the importance of a good night’s rest, we too are in constant battle with God for control over our lives.  And being a loving parent, God is always communicating with us and for us to hear what He is trying to tell us, we must seek Him above all else in our lives.

You see, anything we pursue without talking to God about first, will most likely be in vein.  We must allow the Light of His Presence shine on all of our pursuits so that we can receive His help for the plans He has made for us or allow Him to change the desires of our hearts.

If we seek Him first and foremost, the rest of our lives will fall into place!  

Enjoy The Silence

 

Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.  Romans 12: 12

                                                                  

Being a bit active and at times, quite talkative, I always struggle when I receive little or no interaction from my 'captive' audience, while making a presentation for work.  The same holds true in my prayer life, especially when I am praying with passion and feel that God is not answering me or seems to be a million miles away.   I don’t believe that I am alone in the way that I feel, as many other Christians probably lack some anticipation of having their prayers answered.

Our society doesn't help us with being patient in our prayer life as we wait for God to answer us in His perfect timing, either.  We live in a society that due to modern technology expects instant results. 

We are to remain vibrant and faithful in our prayer life.  It is too easy to become discouraged and feel as though God is not listening when all we perceive is silence.  I am thankful for many unanswered prayers that I have petitioned God with and it has certainly helped to mature my faith by leaps and bounds.  We must come to a place of understanding His presence is always with us if we are grow our relationship with Him; in doing so, we will have a deeper relationship with God, despite our prayers not being answered.

Continue to pray and be hopeful even if you are suffering; God is always with you!!

What Is Life?

 

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.  Psalm 16:11

Have you ever pondered the reason why you are here on this earth?  It’s easy to do especially if you are unhappy at home or work and feel despair because you believe that life is meaningless.  I have talked to several folks whom sadly feel this way.  Conversely, when you have a purpose, you are able to live life with joy and energy, despite trials and tribulations.

God’s Word reveals our deepest reasons for existence on this earth and the Bible is full of His promises.  There is no way we can possibly persevere and overcome our despair without knowing God’s love.  We are created to be in a relationship with our Father and He promises us that the adversities we face during our time on earth are only temporary.

Read your Bible if you are ever feeling like life has lost its meaning and take God at His word; His promises are eternal!

It's a Mistake

 

Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  Romans 8:6

One of the greatest mistakes we can possibly make is allowing ourselves to place overemphasis on one area of our lives at the expense of others.  For instance, if I was to attend every after hours social event during the work week, I would probably meet more potential clients and customers, but I would be sacrificing the short window of time that I enjoy spending with my family each and every night.  Too many people fall into this trap pursuing a successful career and many achieve it, but wonder why things are so bad at home and how everything else go off of balance in the rest of their lives.

Balance means using your time, gifts, and resources to live a life that honors God.  God will never ask us to do something and then short-change us on the time needed to do everything He has called us to do.  When you try to accomplish everything you want to get done, you are often left tired, worn-out and generally unsatisfied.

When you turn control of your life (and your busy schedule) over to the Holy Spirit, He will restore balance again in your life and give you peace, contentment, and satisfaction that you so desperately desire.

Solid

 

Those who fear the Lord are secure; He will be a refuge for their children. Proverbs 14:26

Our youngest son, Elijah, just recently passed his driver's test and now has his license.  This is another milestone for our boys as our oldest, Elliott just started his first semester of college at UTC.   Now that both boys are mobile and thankfully both have been pretty healthy in the past few years of high school, I remember those earlier years when the boys were in and out of daycare due to sickness which caused us to take time off many days from work in order to stay home with them.  Looking back, it was (and still is) pretty stressful for the both of us to miss work and balance time at home with sick children.  We are all promised difficulties during the course of our journey and the above passage from Proverbs is one to remember during those difficult times…

You see, when you strengthen your faith with the truths of God's Word every new morning, you build a solid foundation that will not easily crack under pressure.

When the troubles of life come your way, the attacks may come close to knocking you down, but a strong foundation will keep you on your feet because God's truths are eternal.

Stand firm and solid like a rock on a foundation that comes from trusting and fearing God!

Everyday I Write The Book

 

“Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!  I will be exalted over the nations!  I will be exalted over the earth!”  Psalm 46:10

God sure has a unique way of speaking to me.  As stubborn as I am, He often hits me with the same truth(s) over and over again until I finally yield.  The past month has provided a wonderful season of Spiritual growth for me and the reoccurring themes that I have been focusing on are: ‘giving up control’ and ‘yielding to God.’  Almost daily, I have either read or heard something regarding the subject matter of ‘letting go and letting God.’

The key to giving up control in our life and submitting to God requires us to be patient and wait while remaining hopeful and trusting.  These virtues certainly do not come natural for me, as I would like to have some say over matters or hang onto a false sense of belief that I am actually in control of my life.  Our strength is found in our weaknesses and our patience in waiting for Christ to do His work, which is evidence that we honestly do trust Him.

Hoping is directly tied to our future inheritance in heaven, but the benefits of hope can be experienced right now.  Instead of trying to manipulate or ‘control’ every aspect of our lives, we must learn to just live each day simply looking for or just being aware of His presence.  Your eyes will be opened to a whole new world realizing that God is the one who is in control and his plans are for our good!