Are you waiting on God for something?  Probably most of us would say yes.  Sometimes as I’m waiting I get weary, so for a long time I didn’t understand the meaning of the song that starts out, “Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord…”  But I finally get it.

If we wait upon the Lord and stop striving to make thing work out in our own strength and in our own timing, then we can get rest.  And rest renews our strength.

God can work out whatever we’re waiting for far better than we can.  If you’re waiting and weary, be encouraged by the fact that God wants to work out your situation in the best possible way because His plans for you are for good and not evil (Jer 29:11).

He loves you so much that He wants to help you and do things for you.  That’s God’s heart towards you because you’re His child who He chose to create.  “Strength and gladness are in His place” (1 Chr. 16:27) and He’s inviting you to come in.

Shagufta

Are you good at waiting?

I think that at my memorial service, several good things might be said of me:  That I had honestly loved God and my family, that I was a hard worker, that I was compassionate, happy, friendly…  all those nice things people say during funerals.

But one thing I fear shall never be said of me, and that is that I was a patient person.

Being a “doer” and having always struggled with anxiety, you can only imagine how difficult it is for me to wait for anything.  I tweak and I wiggle.  I twist and pull at my hair and bite my lower lip.  I start to think about all the things I could be doing, instead of wasting my time waiting…  It’s pure torture!

So the other day, when I heard a commentary on the radio about what the Psalms tell us about this subject, I had to run and grab a pen (one that worked, hopefully) and a piece of paper so that I could jot down what the announcer was saying.

She said that, according to the Psalmists, we should wait:

• patiently

     Psalm 37:7b, Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.

•  expectantly

     Psalm 5:3, In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

•  actively

     Psalm 119:166, I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands.

Naturally, I wasn’t too excited about the “waiting patiently” part, but I found the last two quite interesting, as they helped me realize that waiting is not wasteful, but rather a productive endeavor.

In fact, the Bible encourages us, time and time again, to wait upon the Lord, and it also tells us how:

•  That wait should be patient, less we run ahead of God’s plans.
•  It should be full of expectation, waiting for what our good and faithful Lord will do.
•  And it should be active instead of passive.

Oh, Ana, likes that last part.  You mean, I don’t have to sit and twirl my thumbs, but instead I get to do something while I wait?

Exactly.

See what this song by Christian singer John Waller says,

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting

I will serve You

While I’m waiting

I will worship

While I’m waiting

I will not faint

I’ll be running the race

Even while I wait

Gosh, I think even uberly impatient people like me can do that.  Now, this is something I really like!

Psalm 27:14, Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Ana

“Where am I?”  I’ve wondered this over the past few months.  My life looks very different than it did a few years ago.  And though I didn’t like some things about my life a few years ago things now seemed worse and unfamiliar.  But were they worse?

When you renovate a home it involves tearing things apart.  When it’s torn up the house looks worse than it was (and unfamiliar) but it’s being prepared to function better and look better.  Ahh!  I’m on my own episode of ‘This Old House’!  (Or maybe ‘This Middle Aged House’.)

Earlier this year I felt like God ‘gave me’ Isaiah 43:18-19.  “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (NKJV).  

Last week it dawned on me why things are unfamiliar and seem worse than before.  God is doing a “new thing” just like He said He would.  He’s stripping away the former things.  That’s why things are unfamiliar and I don’t recognize where I’m at.  Things aren’t worse.  They’re just in the preparation stage.

Do you feel like you’re being torn apart like an old (or not so old) home?  Have you wondered where you are?  Maybe God is preparing you for something new, something better.

So where am I?  I’m right where God wants me.  And maybe you are too.

Shagufta

I think we’ve all been in situations where things weren’t going to pan out unless God intervened.  Those are the times when we pray things like, “Lord, I don’t know how this can work out but can You work it out somehow?”

About 10 years ago there was a small group I wanted to attend but it was on Thursday mornings and I worked Thursdays.  I wasn’t in a seniority position at work so I didn’t feel like I could ask my boss to rearrange all three veterinarian’s schedules to suit me.  So I prayed that God would somehow work it out.

About a month later my boss wanted to talk with me.  She had come up with a new schedule and I now had Thursday mornings off.  I was so excited and amazed!  I didn’t have the power to change my schedule at work but I had a mission impossible God on my side!!

Since then I’ve been in more ‘work it out somehow’ situations and I’m in one now.  I’m sure some of you are also in a seemingly impossible situation.  Please remember that what is impossible with man is possible with God (Mt 19:26, Lk 1:37).  And on top of that, He loves you AND He’s for you!

I feel like a little kid jumping up and down with excitement waiting to get a present… or cake and ice cream (with lots of caramel sauce)!  I’m so excited to see how my amazing God will work out my current situation according to His perfect will.  And work it out He will because He loves me, He’s for me, and He’s God of the ‘somehow’.

Shagufta

How does one “wait on the Lord”?

Isaiah 40:31 says that, those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (NKJV)

Years ago, I heard this woman over the radio share how she got up every morning, sat on her sofa, closed her eyes, quieted her heart, and – as she sat very still – she waited for God to speak to her.

She sounded to me like such a godly inspiration!  However, I had to be honest with myself and accept the fact that her morning experiences would never work for someone like me.  Really, comatose as I am every morning, sitting on a warm and cozy couch and closing my eyes would only make me snore.  As far as I recall, I have never successfully quieted my heart or mind by sitting down attempting to be still.

Even if I managed to stay awake, my mind would drift from the Lord and his goodness to my unfinished grocery list or the next project that needs tackling or whether or not my son’s appointment was this afternoon or the next.

Definitely not a very productive, quiet bonding time with Jesus.

I have friends I greatly admire, who can sit through an hour-long meeting without moving a muscle.  They appear calm and relaxed and focused.  When I find myself wondering what would that be like, I cringe remembering I need to be paying attention to what’s being said instead of gaping at people.  It’s very sad.

So what did the Psalmist mean by being “still before the LORD and wait[ing] patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7, NIV)?  Does that mean that un-still, extremely impatient gals like me are basically doomed?

Fear not my fellow ADHD-ers!

As I shared with you before, I do get up every morning and I do eventually manage to slow down the ol’ mind and sit on my comfy recliner to spend quality time with God.  Sometimes I even close my eyes without drifting into beautiful places where George Clooney or a much younger Paul Newman tell me I am the one, and I flutter my long and dense eye lashes and tell them, “Oh, stop it!”  And you say, in you dreams, girl!  And I say, exactly.  So… where was I?

Oh, yes!  How do I wait?  To me, the simple act of honoring the Lord by prioritizing my devotional is an act of waiting.  I’d much rather jump out of bed and dive directly into my to-do list (those are figures of speech, it’d be more precise to say, “drag myself out of bed” and after a shower and a cup of coffee or two” engage in my daily chores” but I’m still dreaming.)

One of the many things I love about Christianity is that it is so practical.  I can do practical.  I can get up in the mornings to take the time to pray and read my Bible.  I can force myself to do this before doing anything else.  And, for me, that is as still and as patient as it’s going to get.  But God knows that in my heart I am seeking to honor Him.

And that, my friends, is how I wait. 

How do you wait on the Lord?  I’m dying to hear.

Curious,

Ana

Psalm 5:3, In the morning, oh Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. (NIV)

Most days, I wake up around the same time.  Most days, I have a to-do list a mile long.  Most days, I battle the urge to jump out of bed and tackle this list, ASAP… but I know better.

A sweet voice whispers in my ear, nudging me out of bed, down the stairs and onto my living room recliner, for a meeting with my Creator.  The inclination to rush through my prayer requests so that I can move on with my day intensifies… but I know better.

On good days, I take deep breaths, pace the living room floor, and beg, “Lord, please calm down this crazy mind of mine!  I need You.  I know better than to start my day without Your touch.  Please teach me to wait on You.”

On the not-so-good ones, I just pace the living room floor and begin the sprint down my prayer list.  Mercifully, it doesn’t take long for the Holy Spirit to capture my heart and mind and to take me to a place where, enthralled by His love, I forget all about life’s rushes.

This act of obedience and submission is what I call “a tithe of my time.” When you tithe, you give back a small percentage of the total amount God blesses you with.  When you tithe your income, you trust Him to bless the remainder percentage so that is enough to fulfill your financial obligations.

In the same manner, when I have enough sense to start my day dedicating a small portion of it to spend it solely with God – what I call my devotional – I am trusting Him to bless the remainder hours of the day so that I can get done whatever needs to.

The beauty of this spiritual mini-battle I face every morning is two-fold.  On one hand, the more I experience God’s presence the easier it gets to overcome my selfish, hardheaded ways and my tendencies to skip my devotional.  On the other, the more I see the difference this investment of my time makes on the rest of my day –and on my attitude – the more I am compelled to “re-invest” the following morning.

Praying is not hard for someone like me, who’s enjoyed a relationship with God since her youth.  I pray all the time!  The deal with someone like me, a doer plagued by impatience and impulsiveness, is that it is very hard not to treat her morning devotionals like another item in her to-do list.

It is hard for girls like me to wait upon the Lord.  But girls like me, who understand the difference those early encounters make in their lives, know better.

Is it hard for you to slow down and wait?  If so, tell us about it!  We at Vineyard Women love to hear your insights.