Waiting on God

November 29, 2018

God is Never in a Hurry, but He is also Never Late

hurry_upContinued from here.

In both of the situations of ambiguity that I am dealing with in my life as part of a group of Christians, waiting for God’s resolution to come along has been a hardship for many of the members of each group. In one of those situations, I repeatedly told people that God’s got this. We need to trust Him and pray for a resolution. The situation lingered for several weeks, and as no resolution seemed to be coming, more complaining and gossiping took place, which broke my heart. Some people doubted that any resolution would ever come, and I would gently chastise them that this situation is NOT bigger than our God.

And then God showed up. Actually, He was working all along, but because people saw no evidence of this – only the obstacle growing larger – some gave in to the temptation to complain and gossip about the situation. When God showed up, everything moved quickly. He placed the resolution on my heart during my morning quiet time, and I did a happy dance because it was BRILLIANT – far more creative and wise than anything I could have possibly come up with on my own. Within hours, I communicated God’s solution to several key people, and the same ones who saw no way over the obstacle were delighted – DELIGHTED! – with the resolution. God was not in a hurry to resolve the situation, but when He decided to act, it was resolved within hours.

Like everyone else in the affected group, I saw that this obstacle was a problem too big for us to resolve on our own as a group. I also agreed that it was a problem that, if not resolved, had the potential to hurt everyone in the group. However, I never once doubted that God was bigger – that He would take this situation and work it for good. How could I be so sure? Because I know Him. This was not the first time that God did the impossible. Thus, I no longer question whether God is going to show up. It might not be in the timeframe I would prefer, but I have learned to rest in Him, knowing that He is going to provide the answer in due time. In the meantime, it’s my job to praise and thank Him, knowing in my bones that His answer is on the way.

To be continued…

[Graphic: Cartoon of Grace shrugging in front of the words, “Hurry up.” Courtesy Bitmoji.]

May 25, 2017

Persevering through the Deserts

never_give_upOne of the life lessons I have learned is to persevere through the desert seasons. When we go through seasons in which we aren’t seeing the fruits of our labors, we can be tempted to give up … and that’s exactly what the Enemy wants us to do! God promises that we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up, but the temptation to give up can be strong when we aren’t seeing any positive results for our efforts.

I have been in a long season of planting seeds without seeing much of a harvest. I used to write a blog on a different topic (under a different pen name) that was successful. I believed this was my “calling,” but God had other plans. I found that I gradually lost interest in the blog and grew to realize this was because God was redirecting my focus elsewhere.

I went through a season of “in between,” where I felt led away from the successful blog, but there was nothing replacing it, either. About a year later, God placed heavily on my heart to write a book entitled God’s Way Actually Works, and I did. That book took over a year to write, but no agents expressed interested in it. God then placed heavily on my heart to write a second book entitled God’s Healing Actually Works, which is a 40-day devotional that walks the reader through the process of cooperating with God toward healing from any emotional stronghold. No agents expressed interested in publishing that book, either.

Throughout the time that I was writing both books, I was also working a full-time job, so I didn’t exactly have loads of free time to write them … and yet nobody is reading them. My husband encouraged me to start a new blog in conjunction with the books, but I kept sensing a “no” from God until December 2016. And then, out of the blue, I got a huge “do it NOW!”

My former blog had thousands of readers, so it’s been humbling to start anew under a different pen name and begin the process again. At this point, I have invested ~ three years of energy into writing Christian living books and blogs without seeing much of a harvest, but I won’t give up. God has a purpose and a plan that is good, and this season of planting will one day reap a harvest if I don’t give up.

Continued here.

[Graphic: Cartoon of Grace holding a sign that says, “I give up” with a “don’t” symbol over it. Courtesy Bitmoji.]