March | 2015 | Patiently Waiting on God

Cycle of Desires: God’s Blessings Part 5 of 5

God’s Blessings

As we turn back again to the Cycle of Desires, where we are at the point of “Giving Up” and “Surrendering,” God seems to open up His storehouse of blessings and rains them down in a way that literally blows our minds. He wants to bless us abundantly. In fact, John 10:10 says, “I have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”[i]

Full Cycle of Desires

What a cycle to take us through! I don’t understand why we have to go through it, but from my perspective, there appear to be two key points: 1. God wants to bring us to the point where we know we need Him more than anything else in this life; and 2. God wants to bring us to the point of brokenness and submission where we are willing to do and be anything He wants us to do and be!

The beauty in the Cycle of Desires is that “dreams don’t come with expiration dates. Taking a circuitous route to your dream doesn’t mean you won’t get there. Life’s unexpected circumstances come as no surprise to God. Instead, you may find that God is moving you toward a dream perfected for you – better than you have imagined. The life you live and the wisdom you gain will make your dream that much sweeter. Maybe that will prove to be the purpose of the delay all along. Be patient. God is not finished with you – or your dreams – yet.”[ii]

And remember, nothing is too hard for the Lord. As He did with Abraham and Sarah, He loves to pull off the impossible. No matter how long it’s been and no matter how impossible it looks, stay hopeful. Your time is coming. Every dream that’s in your heart, every promise that has taken root, God not only put it there, but He has every intention of bringing to pass. Remind yourself that your time is coming! God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. Oh what a sense of joy He must get as He orchestrates miracles in the lives of those who love Him.

[i] NKJV John 10:10

[ii] Listening Heart devotional

Cycle of Desires: Surrender – Part 4 of 5

No matter how much we convince ourselves it will all be worth the wait, we often get to the point where the pain of waiting for our desires to come to fruition literally brings us to our knees. We get to the point we just want to give up. It is here in the Cycle of Desires, we can become bitter and angry or we can surrender our desires and future dreams to the Lord who already knows what will be best for us. Although it appears to be a fairly simple and logical choice, surrendering can be something we battle daily.

Surrendering our desires and dreams to the Lord is really the second act of this drama. The first key act involves us surrendering our very lives to the Lord. The bottom line is God loves each and every one of us, and has a plan for our lives. In fact, He loved us so much that as John 3:16 tells us, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”[i]

Unfortunately, we are sinners and our sin separates us from God. Romans 3:23 tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[ii] Romans 6:23 goes on to tell us the consequences of our sin: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[iii]

God’s gift was in the form of Jesus Christ, the only provision for our sins. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins so that the gulf between us and God could be bridged. Through Him and Him alone, can we know and experience God’s love for us and ultimate plan for our lives. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[iv] Not only did Christ die for us, but He literally defeated death by dying on the cross, being buried, and being raised from the dead on the third day.[v]

To fully experienced God’s loved and plan for our lives, we must individually receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.”[vi] All we have to do is open the door of our hearts, knowing in faith that this is a gift we have done nothing to earn. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast.”[vii]

Opening the door to your heart is as simply as praying a prayer such as this:

“Lord Jesus, I need you. I know I am a sinner. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins so that I may spend eternity with you. Today, I open the door of my life and ask You to be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for forgiving me and loving me. Take my life and use it in whatever manner will bring glory and honor to You.”

It is truly that simple and truly that life changing. My prayer is that if you have not made that commitment to Christ or prayed a similar prayer to this one, that today you will. Make today the day you change your life forever. Surrender your heart to the Lord and watch with amazement at the things He will do in your life.

[i] NIV John 3:16

[ii] NIV Romans 3:23

[iii] NIV Romans 6:23

[iv] NIV Romans 5:8

[v] I Corinthians 15:3-6

[vi] KJV Revelation 3:20

[vii] NKJV Ephesians 2:8-9

24 Hours

Waiting is tough…sometimes beyond tough. But the best way for us to wait and not completely lose our sanity is focusing on today…the 24 hours right in front of us. If I am having a hard time with even 24 hours, I have been known to shrink that down to 12 hours, or 1 hour, or heck, on a bad day 1 minute!

When I focus on my 24 hour period, I don’t get overwhelmed by what may or may not come, how it will all work out, or all the time that has passed. I focus on today, and living today to its’ absolute fullest.

And that’s what God calls us to do right? Live life to its fullest today, while we let Him take care of the future and working out His promises for us. And He will! We can trust Him to do all He has said that He would. He is the great Promise keeper.

So, for today…I will keep my eyes on Him and living out my next 24 hours with all the passion and zest for life that I can muster up!

It’s the “Nevers” that kill you

During our waiting, it’s the “Nevers” that creep into our minds that can just be killers! I am never going to get that job. I am never going to be healed. I am never going to have a baby. We are never going to be able to get through the adoption process. I am never going to meet the man or woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. My dreams are never going to be fulfilled. God’s promises will never become reality.

The “Nevers” are so hard, and Satan is without a doubt the king of the “Nevers.” Why? Because if he can get us to focus on the “Nevers,” than we begin to lose our hope. And if we lose our hope, than we give up on our God-given desires and simply settle for good enough rather than God’s best. Or we give up altogether.

As I was driving home from work the other day, the Lord gave me this phrase….. “But God, By God, and For God.”

When the “Nevers” creep up on me…..or flat out assault me….I remind myself…..BUT GOD has plans to prosper me and not to harm me…to give me hope and a future. HOPE AND A FUTURE! The “Nevers” are simply not part of God’s plan for me.

And BY GOD, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) Easy? No. Do I falter and at times fall flat on my face? Yes. But He is there to pick me up, remind me I am strong in Him, and that He has more power in His little pinky than I can even begin to imagine.

And FOR GOD, I keep pressing on, loving Him, loving those He puts in my path who are on the same journey, and giving Him glory for all He has done in my waiting.

We will see the light. We will make it through. We just have to put those “Nevers” where they belong….in Never Never land…..while we head into our Promise Land!

“Wait” Poem by Russell Kelfer

Sometimes you run across a poem that just inspires and encourages you to continue to hold on to the Lord and all of His promises. This was one such poem for me!

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, He replied.

I pleaded, and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? Your say wait??” my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why.

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.

“My future, and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me ‘wait’?

I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,

Or even a ‘no’, to which I can resign.

“And Lord, you have promised that if we believe,

We need but ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

“I’m weary of asking: I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair; defeated and taut

And grumbled to God; “So I’m waiting, for what?”

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine

And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,

Raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.

“All you see I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You’d not learn to trust, just by knowing I’m there.

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me,

When darkness and silence was all you could see.

“You would never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

“The glow of My comfort late in the night;

The faith that I give when you walk without sight;

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“And you never would know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’

Yes, your dreams for that loved one o’ernight could come true,

But the loss! if you lost what I’m doing in you!

“So be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all….is still…wait.”

The Difficulty of Waiting

I wish I could tell you that waiting is easy. But it’s not. There are moments of darkness and despair that are all-encompassing. But the light will shine through again. There are moments of pain and suffering that seem unbearable. But you can make it. There are times when it appears that the trial of your waiting will continue on forever. But it won’t. I promise.

In the meantime, my purpose in writing this blog is to provide you with hope and insight as you enter those times of darkness, despair, pain, suffering, and facing what feels like a never-ending trial. In the most difficult moments of my own waiting period, there were days that I didn’t think I could take one more step, and then God would provide some amazing encouragement on the internet, through a song on the way to work, in a devotional that just captured exactly what I was feeling, or through a family member or friend’s words of encouragement. Those moments of light gave me that little bit of hope I needed to keep pressing on. My prayer is that you too will experience those moments of light in your darkness, and keep pressing on one more day until your waiting is over.

Cycle of Desires: Waiting – Part 3 of 5

Waiting

God’s Promises are a signed, sealed guarantee, but often so is the waiting that accompanies them. Like we see with Abraham, sometimes God gives us promises far in advance of their fulfillment to give us hope for our future and stability during our present pain. But He still makes us wait and wait and wait for them – to the point we honestly believe our hearts will explode with anxiety or pain. See, it’s in our hearts where our deepest desires reside and therefore it is the most vulnerable of places for us.

But because those desires are in the most vulnerable of places and are often the most important to us, they are also of utmost importance to God. And He is never inactive in our waiting time, even when He calls us to be still. In fact, He absolutely loves to work for those who will wait for Him.

Although He may not explain all of His purposes to us as He has us in this season of waiting, there is always a reason. I am sure that Abraham would have gladly relived each and every day of waiting, knowing the joy that his son Isaac brought him for the rest of his days. Even though the waiting felt like an eternity, Isaac was worth waiting for.

God has something worth us waiting for too. I was driving to a function the other day, and praying while I drove. Much of my time spent driving involves me praying that I don’t get a ticket, but on this particular trip I was bearing my soul to the Lord in terms of my desires and longing for a family. And that’s when the Lord laid it on my heart, “I am making you wait because there is something worth waiting for.” There is something worth waiting for. It’s kind of hard to argue with that, and so I have no choice but to wait.

There are days I feel much like I am sure Sarai felt….a bit past my prime in terms of the timeline of my hopes and dreams…a bit on the wrong side of where I would like to be. But that’s when God does something to remind me of the promises He has given me. That’s when He reminds me that my waiting will produce a joy that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Encouraging Quotes on Waiting

Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be. – John Ortberg

To wait on God means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord’s all-sufficiency, and to seek counsel and help from the Lord, and to hope in Him (Psalm 33:20-22; Isa. 8:17)… The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit the blessing of having God work for us. The evil of not waiting on God is that we oppose God’s will to exalt Himself in mercy.- John Piper

Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work. – Peter Marshall

What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them…we must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly.- A.W. Tozer

Do you have any you could share that have been an encouragement to you?

Fixing Our Eyes on Him

I know that one of my most difficult struggles, and failures, as I wait, is fixing my eyes on Jesus. I try, I truly do, to keep my eyes glued to Him, to His Word, and to His Promises. But sometimes my eyes are distracted by thoughts of the circumstances in which I find myself. (I know the disciple Peter understands this one first hand….when he got out of the boat, those waves looked a whole lot bigger close up!!!)

My mind begins to wander, and I end up wasting mental and emotional energy on things that I simply cannot change. Oh, I dearly wish I could change them….but that is not to be for now.

So, my goal this week, is to monitor my thoughts. Instead of wading knee-deep into worrying about my circumstances, I want to interrupt that thought train before it even leaves the station headed for “Discouragement Town.” I want to change the subject, change the focus, and direct my mind down the track that I know will be far more productive…..worshipping Jesus.

It’s interesting, in my darkest moments, when I find the courage to even say His name, small bits of light begin to break through the darkness.

So this week, I will minimize my worry and MAXIMIZE my worship of HIM.

And so I ask you as I continually wrestle with this: What does fixing your eyes on Jesus mean? How do you do it? How do you keep your mind focused on Him?

I would love to get your feedback! Have a beautiful Sunday!

Cycle of Desires: God’s Promises – Part 2 of 5

Our God-given desires are bolstered by God’s Promises. Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”[i] This is God’s precious Promise to us…that when we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the very desires of our heart.

Psalm 145:19 reiterates that promise by telling us that “He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him.”[ii] I have always been encouraged by the fact that both verses use the word “desires” and not the word “desire.” I would hate to have to narrow my desire list down to my one or two favorites!

But I am even more encouraged by the fact that no desire is ever placed in us by the Holy Spirit unless He intends to fulfill it. He isn’t putting desires in our hearts just so He can squash our hopes and dreams like little bugs. No! He breathes heavenly life into our hearts so we continue to look forward with hope to the fulfillment of those things we long for the most.

We have a perfect example of God delivering on His Promises with Abraham. God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2 that he would be the father of a “great nation”, and yet the months turned into years with no sign of fatherhood on the horizon.[iii] Eventually, Abraham bore a son with Hagar, but God again told him in Genesis 15:4, “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”[iv] Again, more years pass by with no son. At this point, the Lord called out to Abraham and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them…. [s]o shall your offspring be.”[v]

The years continue to drag on and at this point Abraham is 100 years old and Sarai, his wife, is 90 years old. Now granted, people lived very long lives back in this day and age. Even with that in mind, the 90-100 age range would not have one classified as a “spring chicken.” In fact, at this point in her life, Sarai was medically unable to bear a child.

But God perhaps knowing how human doubt can creep in, again returned to Abraham and said, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.¹⁶I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Not only was God specific about the blood line that would come from Sarah’s womb, he was also specific about the WHO and the WHEN. In terms of the WHO, God had specific instructions for Abraham regarding the boy’s name, saying “your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.^”[vi] In terms of the WHEN, God was even specific in the timing saying,^“I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”[vii]

In all, God came to Abraham four different times to reinforce His Promise for Abraham’s future. And those promises all came true…down to the very last detail. Even when everything looked bleak and the sun had set on what was medically possible, God’s promise was a guarantee.

[i] NIV Psalm 37:4

[ii] NIV Psalm 145:19

[iii] NIV Genesis 12:1-2

[iv] NIV Genesis 15:4

[v] NIV Genesis 15:5

[vi] NIV Genesis 17:15-19

[vii] NIV Genesis 18:10-14

Patiently Waiting on God

…..While Checking My Watch

Month: March 2015