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I don’t know about you, but I am not the most patient person. I like things to be moving, clicking. I like it when cars in front of me move fast and when things are going forward at work. I hate waiting, especially when waiting doesn’t look productive or when waiting means more than a few days. When waiting interrupts my neatly planned schedule or blocks some long-held dream, the ire rises in me.
When waiting drags on indefinitely and goals are placed on hold, when I wonder if things I have longed for will ever materialize, that’s when I find myself saying to God, Come on already! What gives? I am ready for my break. I am ready for my breakthrough. I am over the breakups and the breakdowns. What’s taking so long? You know I am all over that next plan you have for me, so bring it on!
But God isn’t impressed with my need for speed. He pulls up a chair and listens patiently. He just lets me beat the air. He lets me get it all out. And then He says with a certain firmness in His tone, Nope. It’s time you do the little stuff. Keep on keeping on. I know the beginning from the end. No worries. You just be faithful in the small stuff right now.
But God?!
Little things. Small beginnings. There is that verse in Zechariah 4:10 about not despising all of that. There is a reason that the word “despise” is clearly used. It’s because some of us hate the thought of doing the stuff that holds no glory. Read the rest of this entry »
Did you know that God loves you no matter if you are having a good day or a bad day, whether you are sick or well, whether you are a beaming success or a complete failure (in your eyes)?
It’s true!
I had this revelation today as I sat in the comfortable rocking chair in the living room, sipping Throat Coat tea, and crying before the Lord. The fact was, I wasn’t feeling so hot. And when I feel vulnerable like that, I often find myself confessing my wearisome state to the Lord. And I am typically also more prone to listen to what He has to say. Read the rest of this entry »
You know how with a typical word processing program you have the option to “find” the term you are searching for and then “replace” it with a better term? Well, as I was thinking about this very useful computer editing tool, I began considering its parallel to our spiritual lives.
There are key conditions that God wants us to find in our own hearts (He calls those sins) so that we can replace those foul feelings and behaviors with ones that are holy and pleasing to God. Read the rest of this entry »
When God doesn’t move as quickly as we would like or expect Him to, we can respond in several different ways.
Ideally, we would graciously accept His patient work on our behalf and remember that He is working behind the scenes and getting us prepared before He does the big reveal and gets us to the next level in our lives.
Yes, but how many of us truly think that way initially?
Typically, we moan or get mad or blame God for being so slow to act. We might even throw our hands up in despair and ask, “What did I do wrong?”
I am guilty of particularly that last response. In fact, I think that question was the exact phrase on my lips just yesterday.
If patience is a virtue, I certainly don’t have much of it! But oh what good can come of having to wait just a little longer. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are going through a season of testing, a trial, a period of waiting, I know exactly how you feel.
You want answers. You want relief. You want God to show up. Now!
I have been going through my own process of sanctification, and I haven’t been the most patient. However, God has been incredibly faithful and gentle to me, even as He prods me to follow Him along paths I have never been before.
I spent about half a day recently on my face in prayer.
Lord, please speak to me, I cried. You are my life and breath. Don’t turn Your face away from me.
As I began to quiet my heart, God gave me a picture. And I quickly penned that vision in my journal before it escaped my memory. Read the rest of this entry »
