Waiting...

Waiting. Another lesson I continue to learn is about waiting. I had a timeline for my life. An unspoken one but a timeline nonetheless. A few years ago, I began to see my precious timeline crumbling. All the plans I had made weren't turning out as I had hoped. But that's where the mistake is made. My hope was too securely wrapped up in an earthly hope rather than placed in the one true Hope of my Savior. I put too much stock in my own ability to plan my life. I didn't allow room for my Savior and God to make the plans, for Him to show me His best. So now I am learning what it means to wait on His timing rather than trusting my own perception of an ideal timeline.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

When the cloud remained...the Israelites...did not set out.

Numbers 9:19

Sometimes the "cloud" remains and we must sit and wait. And while I sit and wait I do the next best thing. Sometimes, the next best thing is trivial (or at least that's how it appears to me!) like doing the laundry or cleaning the house. Other times its helping with a kids outreach or taking an elderly couple to lunch. And while I do these things I learn to wait for what my heart desires, all the while trusting God for the best, learning day by day that He is much more capable of directing my steps than I am. (shocking, I know!) :)

And in this process, I am seeing His hand as He directs my steps. I am seeing His blessings and faithfulness. So even though this thing called life isn't always going the way I want it to go, I am choosing to rejoice and be thankful for my God, His faithfulness, and direction...and maybe while I'm waiting, the Lord is busy working in and through me to accomplish His perfect will in me! :)

The One Who Provides

I am thankful the Lord has shown me more and more of who He is over the last months. I am thankful that He is teaching me that He is Jehovah-Jireh. He is teaching me that in all things I can trust Him to provide my every need. He made provision for my salvation and if He is capable of that great provision than He is able to see to all my other needs...physical, emotional, spiritual. He knows what I need more than I even know. He knows what I need when I'm all alone. He knows how to provide for me in every situation. I do not need to fear what the future holds....it reminds me of the verse in I John..

"There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear..."

I John 4:18

...I have experienced the greatest love possible through my Savior. This perfect Love casts out fear. This Love can take away all my fears of what the future holds. Fear of being lonely. Fear of failure. Fear of not being cared for. Fear of being single forever and ever.. :) Fear.

Fear can be so debilitating. I don't want fear to keep me from being productive for the Lord and His work. I don't want to look back over the years and have regrets, knowing that I allowed unfounded fears to paralyze me.

And so I rest in knowing that I serve a God who cares about the big things (like my salvation!) and the little things (like flowers for my birthday). I can put aside my fear of the unknown, knowing He holds it all in His hands! He cares for me. He loves me. He is Jehovah-Jireh, the One who will provide.

"Now hope does not disappoint..."

Do you ever find yourself discouraged with whatever season you are enduring right now? Things in life may not be turning out how you expected or how you planned, or maybe the job you have doesn't give you the satisfaction you thought it would. Do you ever find yourself looking at life circumstances and when you look around, you all the sudden find yourself in a "funk"? I don't know about you, but I know I've experienced the "funk" and I was reminded about where our true contentment lies when I read the following excerpt from "The Purple Cellar" in her post titled "Our Vital Need for Hope".

"Contentment is a choice, although at times it is hard to believe that. It just makes no sense. We would give anything to get out of the funk in which we find ourselves. But picking ourselves up by our purse straps just isn't going to do it. We need an answer; we need help. And if we do not get it, what starts out as a mild case of the blues can spiral down into depression, which leads to discouragement, and then, finally, to despair. There is a common thread in each slide we make down this awful spiral—a loss of hope. Each time we move a little lower, it is because a little more hope has died.


The key, of course, to not losing hope is to place our hope in the right things. If we set our hope on something, even a very good something, that we want in this life, we may well lose our hope, because there are no guarantees that we will get the things we want in the here and now. There is only one thing of which we can be sure, and that is God's presence and all the blessings that come with it. Our hopes will find increasing fulfillment if what we hope for is to know more of Christ. Our hopes will be realized if deeper intimacy with our heavenly Father is what we seek. Our hopes will not disappoint if we long to be free of our enslaving sins. We can bank our hopes on any and all of the things God has promised us in his Word."

I've recently been enjoying some posts over at "The Purple Cellar" blog on the topic of contentment. One post spoke that "Contentment is Always an Option" and that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in or what season we are experiencing, there is always an option to choose to be content. But we have to be looking for our contentment in the right places, we have to be placing our hope where it will not be disappointed.

What a wonderful reminder to set our sights on the things above, to set our hopes where they will not be disappointed. And, the one place that our hopes can safely rest are in the promises of God's word. We find true contentment when we seek (and find!) an intimacy in knowing our Savior and seeking after the things that please Him.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 5:1-6