Worth Waiting For

Waiting.  It stinks.  Whether it's in line at the grocery store behind the sweet little lady with 147 coupons, or in the doctor's office, or in traffic, waiting is not my favorite. 

It's a part of life we just can't get around, and I think God uses it to remind me I'm not the only person on the planet for one, and two, why am I in such a hurry?

See, God isn't at all interested in getting us where we are going FAST.
He does promise, though, that He WILL get us where we are going, if the road we are on is His.
Psalm 37:7 reminds us to "be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.."

Are you in a period of waiting? Praying? Watching? Hoping?  Are you restless as you wait, or are you hopeful that your waiting is exactly where He wants you, and a necessary part of the unfolding of His plan and purpose for you?  Because that's exactly what it is.  In fact, waiting can be a major faith and character builder.  And a lot of times, it's in the "waiting" period that God intends to mold us and better prepare and equip us for this thing we are waiting for.  Sometimes, we even discover that we were waiting and praying for the wrong thing altogether, and His answer is something else altogether.

The danger to our impatience is that we often are able to convince ourselves that He is moving too slowly, and we must make a move without His leading.  It's in these hasty moments that we justify choices led by our own selfish desires, our impulses, our emotions, and can make life changing choices that lead us out of His plan for us (and those following us!)...because we chose not to wait.  How scary!

I've been blessed to see God work in amazing ways for those who were willing to wait on Him.  HIS best for them.  HIS version of their life plan.  His story for you is far better than any you could write for yourself, and definately worth waiting for.

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!"  -Isaiah 30:18

Chasing God

FIRST and foremost, I need to clear the air (probably more for me than you) and apologize for being so lazy with this blog the last 6 months...couldnt have been any lazier actually...but the first step is admitting the problem, right?  For those of you who have ever taken a moment to read this blog, thank you, and I pray that God spoke to you in some way through it.  And for those who have stopped by to see if I'd finally posted again, I'm sorry for being a huge disapointment in that regard.  :)
But today is a new day, so I digress...

So my "plan" (those of you who know me well know I'm not much for structure) is not to blog on certain days of the week, or a certain number of times a week (we know where that concept got me) but to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to sit and write as soon as He puts something on my heart to share...so here I am.

As I parused my favorite little book, My Utmost For His Highest, full of amazing spiritual insight from my good friend Oswald, this verse immediatly grabbed me tonight.  Words from our Creator, Savior, life giver, Counselor, Healer, Jesus...

"I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me."    -(John 5:30)

Wow.

I want to be able to say that. Every day.  Every year.  Through every chapter, trials and joys. 
Well into the first month of 2013, we are posed with the challenge of a "fresh start", a personal challenge, a resolution.  The word resolution comes from "resolve", which means to "make a firm decision about."  And that's exactly what Jesus did, every moment, every day, in every encounter with every person, in every situation, all the time.  He RESOLVED to follow and obey and trust the One who sent Him, and to dedicate his energy, his LIFE, solely to fulfill the purpose of God.

God is sending us too, every day that we wake up on this earth. 

Sending us into this broken, burting, sinful, selfish, God-rejecting world, and not for ourselves.  Not to gratify our flesh, or chase after our little (or big) ideas of happiness and fulfillment, but to chase after our Creator, daily...which will ultimately lead us right to the front door of our purpose.  Right to the center of HIS will.

So will you resolve to aim your feet in the direction of Him who is sending you?  Or will you aimlessly and recklessly blaze the path of your own ambitions, leaving God behind, as an after thought, hoping He's on board with your plan?

My prayer is that this new year you discover many blessings, unexpected ones, totally off your radar, not in your plans, as a result of listening to and following the leading of God. Maybe even some discomfort, some bending and stretching of your faith and your will, until you find yourself so wonderfully alligned with Him, so "In His Purpose" that you can't imagine how you ever lived any other way.