A Season of Waiting

The urge I have to come sit and write today comes from a place of knowing I don’t have it all together. No amount of sticky notes can truly hold my life intact.

I’m smiling knowing that my God loves me so passionately whether I have had a walk and talk with Him or not. As I was folding clothes downstairs a few minutes ago, I was being reminded of how constant God’s love is. It is hard for my mind to grasp how God loves me no matter how I act and no matter what I do. It is difficult for me to truly believe God’s love for me is not based off of my behavior, how much I accomplish, or how much time I spend seeking Him. I believe God is longing to invade our everyday moments of life, my friend.

What is stressing you out this week? Do you feel as if your list of things to do is stacked as a mountain before you? Are you struggling to figure out how you are going to accomplish everything and be all that you feel you need to be? You aren’t alone, brother or sister. I realize this is such a busy time in your life. You want to be the leader God has called you to be. You don’t think you invest enough time in your family relationships. Perhaps you feel like you are in a season of waiting.

Waiting isn’t what we usually beg God for. We get angry whenever we don’t see progress happen instantly. We don’t like waiting in lines for food. We are used to getting things immediately. Can I share a truth with you that I am still learning to grasp? If we always received the things we prayed for instantly, how would God get the most glory from our stories? Our stories are to bring Him the most glory.

God inserts things into our lives that are outside of our control. His timing isn’t ours for sure. I do know that our God doesn’t let us miss a moment of the plans He has for us. 

The seeds you are planting in other people’s lives are valuable. You aren’t the Gardener. We are the shovels God chooses to pick up to accomplish the tasks He sets out to do. Out of all the shovels God could choose from, He has chosen you and I to play vital roles in toiling the soil of other people’s hearts. 

Jesus sweetly reminded me that He is doing more behind the scenes of our lives than we even realize. We truly can’t even understand how powerful and amazing our God is!

God is using the things you are doing now to prepare someone else’s heart for eternity in Heaven with Him. You may not realize how important this job is. You may think you are just waking up every day doing the same old routine. Wake up each day knowing you are living with a divine purpose, my friend! If your life did not have divine purpose, you would not be alive right now.

If you had everything together, you wouldn’t see your need for God so clearly.

My Father brought a sweet encounter in my life this week with someone I was once close to. I wasn’t expecting to have an encounter with this person, but Jesus does things we do not expect Him to do. I believe we often forget that we aren’t the ones who should be telling God what to do. Jesus doesn’t just answer the prayers we mention to Him. No, Jesus is our Father.

Whether you have a good father on earth or not, you have an eternal Father Who longs to protect you, provide for you, bring you peace, help you live in continual purity, and offer you a life of divine purpose.

The routines of your weeks are not all that there is. There are people that God has placed in your life that only you can reach through Him. Love is powerful. Having true love for other people will change lives! We love others whenever we know they are not perfect and choose to invest into them anyway. None of us are perfect. Love is seeing someone’s heart and loving them deeply even though we know all the wrong things they do. Love doesn’t stop at a person’s outward appearance. Love cuts straight to the heart and sees the things inside others that most people can’t see. Love speaks Truth over the minds of the people God places in our paths. Love is sharing cards, baking brownies, and praying passionately whether we see our actions have any fruit or not. Love invites and welcomes others in. Love doesn’t push anyone away. Love gets to the heart. It isn’t superficial. It isn’t always neat and clean either. Love sees and works through the dirt because it sees the beauty and purpose that lies within. As children of God’s light, we have the wonderful opportunity to see things in people that no one else can see. We should see the beauty and purpose that God has for each human being. We should be burdened for people who are deplete of spiritual life and color. I truly believe our lives replicate coloring books in the way God takes the black and white pages of our lives and fills them with beautiful colors. Jesus is the Giver of everything good. He wants His children to have fun and live abundantly.

“Having fun” always seems to have a bad connotation whenever I think of it. I think of my peers who are doing things that are “fun” and satisfying for a short season. My heart longs for my peers to choose the fun that Jesus offers. Choosing Jesus over everything else does not mean a person becomes a nerd. That sounds funny, but I think it is a view some people have of living for God. 

God is the most creative person I know. He created the world and everything beautiful we see. It is time that the enemy is put in his place and reminded of his terrible destiny. I choose to fight for the eternal lives of my friends and loved ones. I choose to speak life and victory over those who are longing for true Hope and unexplainable freedom. I choose to intercede for the people God places in my path. It is time that blinders fall from the eyes of God’s people.

Anxiety, fear, depression, and stress has to bow in Jesus’ Name. Our God’s Name is more powerful than we even realize! Let’s not give in to the traps of Satan.

This life is busy, and we do have a lot going on. In the midst of all “the things”, we have purpose for being here, my friend. Our purpose extends far into things we cannot even see.

Who has God placed in your path to love this week? Who has He laid on your heart today? I challenge you to love them with all that is within you. Whether your person is the guy or girl sitting beside you in class or whether your person is the kid you babysit, there is purpose for that person being in your life for such a time as this. The time God gives us with people is precious. We should never take it for granted. We never know how God will use the seeds we get to help plant. 

Let’s look past to-lists, busy schedules, and massive work loads to embrace this season God has us in. 

We are ultimately not in control of our lives. If you are anything like me, that is a hard truth to grasp, but it is honestly so freeing. My life’s progress isn’t dependent upon my good deeds or levels of productivity. God wants us to realize we can’t do it all without Him. We must surrender our plans and let Him know that we trust His timing for the plans He has for our lives.

Don’t try to get in the way of the work God is doing in your life right now, brother or sister. I know it is tempting to make the phone calls, write the letters, and try to make things happen on your own. God wants the glory from our stories. Trusting Him with things outside of our control make us more dependent upon Him. Seeing our prayers answered in God’s judgement and seeing our miracles come through will make us more thankful for the things we originally longed for. We are all in a process of something. Look for the progress God gives you in the process. Don’t try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Sit on your Heavenly Dad’s shoulders. Let Him carry you to the places He has called you. Then, anything you lift up will ultimately be on His shoulders. God didn’t make you to do life alone. 

Love your people. Watch for the progress God gives you through this process. Know that your waiting is not in vain. It is bringing about a beautiful story of hope and purpose. Your life doesn’t just affect you. You are full of impact and purpose, beautiful one. Don’t give up. 

Let’s rest in the God we claim to trust. Let’s be real in our faith. Let’s invite Jesus into the messiness of our lives knowing He will never push us away. Let’s know that God’s timing and provision is never late or dry. We serve a God of miracles, and I am forever thankful for His great faithfulness.

Our God is real. He is fighting for your precious heart. No battle you will ever face is bigger than the God Who already fought and won for you on the cross. Claim your victory and choose Jesus over everything else, my dear friend.

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) reminds us, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”