wait

Wait, waiting, hold, season, purpose, fruitful, joy, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Hold: Learning to Love and Enjoy God’s Waiting Room

DevotionalsJuly 30, 2019July 30, 2019

When everything is put on hold, God is still moving. We can enjoy the waiting rooms of life because, with God, no season is in vain.

Sitting on her pillow, holding her knees in her chest, she rocked herself back and forth as tears streamed down her face. She tried to journal, tried to pray, tried to worship, but all she could do was cry. She reached for the tissue, as her nose swelled again and snot settled on her upper lip.

“Why?!?” she screamed inwardly! “God, I’m trying to trust you. I want to hear you! I want to obey, but why aren’t you speaking? Why am I still waiting?” she bawled in the dark. Then, resigned to the fact that life was still on hold, she crawled under her covers, laid her head on a tear-stained pillow and went to sleep.

Life on Hold

A hospital waiting room tends to freeze time as if our world is suddenly put on hold. We step into its space, waiting for news of a loved one.

Some of my favorite memories have happened in a waiting room. I was just four years old, sitting on vinyl chairs with my grandparents and my little sister when my dad came around the corner in full scrubs. He held my sister and me on his two sides and announced the arrival of our baby brother!

Gramma

As a college student, I remember sitting in the waiting room, with all of my extended family, while my grandfather was in surgery. My enthusiastic Gramma dazzled us all with treasured tales as we waited. Time stopped, and I watched my grandmother’s eyes glisten as she told story after story of her childhood and college years. Growing up in Louisiana in the ’40s, falling in love with my grandfather in the ’50s, the early days in her marriage, the 60’s as she raised my mom and her three sisters.

To this day, I barely remember why Granddad was having surgery, and I have no idea how long we waited. But I will never forget some of her stories, or how it felt to be all together. It was pure magic.

And, there are the countless times I have sat in a doctor’s office waiting room with my own kids, reading books together, or playing “I Spy,” and, taking time to be still and make the most of our wait.

The irony of it all has not escaped me. After all, waiting rooms are often a place of frustration or anxiety. Rarely do you see people enjoy their wait, and certainly nobody throws a party in a hospital waiting room!

God’s Waiting Room

Waiting rooms can be beautiful places, where memories are made; yet, waiting for God to move rarely feels beautiful.

I have sat in the waiting rooms of life more than a few times. Several years ago, after my husband lost his job, I kept begging God to show us what was next. I felt like everything was put on hold, and I was stuck. I was willing to do anything and go anywhere, except sit still and wait! Sound familiar?

I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:1, AMPC

As I began writing this post, I was waiting for my fourth child to make his debut. I was in pain, and emotional. I was uncomfortable. So, I strove to make something happen, but in the end, all I could do was wait.

Over and over, Jesus showed me Isaiah 55:1…

Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].
Isaiah 55:1, AMPC

And now, I am typing one-handed holding a bubbly, bright-eyed three-week-old wiggling on my lap. Like most things that require all of my patience, he is worth the wait!

Wait with Purpose

Waiting is HARD. Whether we wait with expectancy or anxiety, either way means to stretch ourselves and hope for something that we don’t fully see yet.

Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
Psalm 27:14, AMPC

The truth is, God does not put our lives on hold, rather He holds our lives. We don’t wait for God to move. God is moving, and we wait for Him to speak. And, in the waiting, He is not silent and we are not without purpose.

God does not put our lives on hold, rather He holds our lives. We don't wait for God to move. God is moving, and we wait for Him to speak. And, in the waiting, He is not silent and we are not without purpose. Click To Tweet

Wait with Joy

Through all of my times of perceived waiting. The Lord continues to show me, now is my time and right now is my calling. This place and these people right in front of me are my purpose. Enjoy this moment.

Even when we feel like nothing is happening, God is playing the overture before the show begins. We can choose to be anxious and impatient with the process, or we can sit back and enjoy the music.

If you are in a season of waiting, this IS your moment. It IS your right now. Today IS your season. Enjoy the day.

Waiting IS hard, but it is not fruitless. With God, no season is ever in vain.

Annie Spratt

still, be still, wait, waiting, joy, overwhelmed, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Be Still: Choosing to Wait on the Lord in Our Circumstances

DevotionalsJuly 23, 2019July 11, 2019

Life’s overwhelming circumstances can leave us feeling completely helpless. But the Lord promises to never leave us. All we need to do is choose to be still and wait on Him.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
Ram Doss

I sat on the cold hospital floor and knelt beside the bed as still as could be. My hand held the one whom I had called Daddy my entire life. All we could do was just be still and wait…

Be Still and Know God

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10, NKJV

God…sometimes there is just too much noise! There’s just too much going on around me. I just want to run away and hide!

If you are anything like me, you have prayed this same prayer more than once in your life. As Americans, we live in a fast-paced world filled with busy schedules and lives that seem to move at lightning speed. It is so easy to take our great and mighty God for granted when we don’t take the time to be still and know Him.

Kneeling beside the bed of my dad just days ago, I felt the same way. Everything in my life seemed to overwhelm me in that instant. Would he make it through this surgery? Could the surgeons fix his heart? Mind you, I was not doubting God or my faith, just worried and overwhelmed. But, as the minutes ticked by I remembered how God had helped me the past three years and all the lessons He had taught me along the way.

Many times I had people around me ask how I survived and held on to my faith? It was not anything I did, but everything He showed me. So, let me take a few minutes and share with you what God has taught me about being still in Him.

To Know Him is to Love Him

I accepted Christ into my heart at a young age. I am so thankful that I grew up knowing and understanding His love, His Word, and His ways. Dear friend, you may know who God is and believe in God, but do you “know” Him?

Do you believe Christ died on the cross for you? Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sins and come to live in your heart? Once you do this, you will experience His love, grace, mercy, and peace. Then you will begin to understand and “know” His ways.

Let the Worries Fade Away

Have you ever wondered how some Christians can go through pain and suffering and still have joy? It’s because they are being still. As a Christian God teaches us to put all our worries in His hands.

Instead of listening to the noise of your worries, listen to the voice of the Lord. We are not to let our joy come from our circumstances, because our circumstances can change in an instance. Our God does not change. Stop worrying about your joy and your happiness and let Him fight for you.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14, NIV

Have No Fear

The Lord remains the same. As Christians, we know He can fight our battles, but we still seem consumed with fear. Fear of the unknown? Fear of failure? Fear of the future? Did you know the Devil can use these fears against us? He loves to distract us with our worries and our fears because they can distance us from God.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.
Psalm 46:1-2, KJV

God has proven time and again that He can work within us and through us. Sometimes He allows trials to come into our lives, so we can learn to depend more upon Him. Remember, God is always in control. Stop worrying and just be still.

Waiting is hard and sometimes waiting can hurt. It is in our human nature to want to control every situation. Sometimes it can feel like God is not answering our prayers or does not seem to understand the urgency of our situation. But, if we give in to those thoughts we are saying God is not in control or He is not being fair.

Be still because God is worth waiting for. He is often at work behind the scenes in ways we cannot fathom. We should be still and discover what God is trying to teach us while we are waiting.

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalm 27:14, KJV

Be still because God is worth waiting for. He is often at work behind the scenes in ways we cannot fathom. We should be still and discover what God is trying to teach us while we are waiting. Click To Tweet

Choose

I choose to be still and wait on the Lord in my present circumstances. I choose to discover what He wants me to learn in the storm. I choose to listen to the voice of my Lord, and not the noise of my worries. I choose joy. I choose life. I choose love. Join me and let us JUST BE STILL.

Until we meet again… Gracie

Elliot Mann

wait, rest, stillness, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Wait: Allowing Stillness in the Lord to Become Dancing

Devotionals, Stay SaneNovember 6, 2018January 13, 2019

So much of life is waiting. It’s easy to allow our minds to race towards an ‘out’, but it’s in the wait, in the stillness that we find our faithful Lord.

I’ve kept a quote before me for years, decades now, I guess. It goes with me on my desk from location to location. Somehow these words ground me during the in-between times, the liminal spaces. The words were penned by the twentieth-century poet T. S. Elliot, but lest you think me a poetry buff, be informed that I found them quoted elsewhere, lifted from one of his works:

I said to my soul, be still and wait…

So the darkness will be the light,

And the stillness the dancing.

Such winsome words; truth rings out through their beauty. Scripture repeatedly bears out the value and reward of waiting, even in darkness and confusion…

To Wait Is Life

I’m trying to remember a time when waiting was ever my strength, my forte…

Nope, the memory isn’t coming. Yet, as I gaze over my lifespan, so very much has involved this very thing that most of us cringe at, wrestle with, and squirm under – waiting. Whether it’s waiting in the carpool line, waiting at the ATM, or waiting for the Amazon order, we don’t like to wait in this instant society.

If we find ourselves caught in a line, if you’re like me, our minds begin calculating similar to a military general. We search for ways to circumvent the system in order to expedite our exit. We’ve got things to do, deadlines to meet, people to have coffee dates with – WORK WITH ME, WORLD!

Consenting Where We Are

And don’t even mention waiting on God! He definitely has NOT entered the 21st Century of the Western world! Isn’t there a newer version of the Bible that has changed Psalm 37:5 from “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him,” to something like, “Get moving with God and He’ll get moving for you!”?

Right. I haven’t seen it, either. It’s just as well because I think we’d miss out on verse 9 if we rewrote verse 5…

For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 37:9, NKJV

Generally, as long as life hums along smoothly, waiting quietly before the Lord seldom comes to the forefront of our minds or hearts. Waiting, you see, “is consenting to be where we really are,” as a monk from the Abbey of Gethsemane once said.

People recoil from it because they don’t want to be present to themselves. Such waiting causes a deep existential loneliness to surface, a feeling of being disconnected from oneself and God. At the depths there is fear, fear of the dark chaos within themselves.

Sue Monk Kidd, The Heart That Waits

Crisis

Unless a level of crisis disrupts our carefully choreographed days, the daily or weekly Bible Study usually suffices. Which may be why God orchestrates or allows, (however you choose to see it), an occasional crisis.

My most recent ‘crisis’ has been moving to another state. Being closer to grandchildren has been life-giving. Leaving close friends, our oldest son and his wife, and the familiarity of home have been more of a challenge. Believing I would hit the ground running, making friends, immediately involved in ministry, was a mind-trap I should have been prepared for. But, somehow wasn’t. I’m a master at setting myself up for the enemy’s lies of unrealistic expectations.

So, this is key; I need to be very careful and keenly aware of what is pulling my heart to rush away from the stillness. Here is the point where I can continue to make the situation all about me, have a pity party, call some friends to join me, (for prayer bandaids or commiseration), and not learn one thing from this period between death and resurrection. The other alternative is to sit before the Lord and ask Him, with the Psalmist, to:

Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me. For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

Psalm 25:4-5, NKJV

How Long?

Am I willing to wait all day long (or a month or a year?) for the Lord to teach me His truth about this time in my life? Throughout the Psalms, David asked God to teach him His ways and to lead him on the right path, but there is never an indication that David believes the process will be instant. One of my favorite Psalms bears this out.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14, NKJV

David believed in the goodness of the Lord. He didn’t lose heart – although he could have – because he was waiting in faith. His was a faith that had seen God deliver him over and over again. He anticipated God delivering, again.

How long are we willing to wait for the Lord to deliver us? Like David, we shouldn't lose heart, but have faith in God to reveal His truth. Click To Tweet

First Light

If you’ve ever sat through the night rocking a sick child…or if you suffer from insomnia, you know what it means to watch for the first light of morning slicing through the clouds. Sometimes, waiting on the Lord is like that.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning – yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6, NKJV

This much I know, waiting is difficult, but the loving-kindness of the Lord never ceases. He knows my weaknesses. He meets me where I am.

The song “Here Again” from Elevation Worship has bolstered my spirit as I have been preparing this devotional, mainly because this is a place I have to return with God repeatedly. He meets me here again…and that is cause for dancing.

constant, unchanging, hope, Oh Lord Help Us, women, Christian, ministry

Constant: Hopeful in the Waiting Because Jesus is Unchanging

Devotionals, Stay SaneJune 11, 2018September 8, 2019

Hope is challenging when our lives are full of waiting. Jesus is our hope and deliverer even when nothing may ever change. He is our constant.

My friend had a broken heart. I’m done she wrote. Done praying, hoping, waiting. What kind of father allows his children to suffer and hurt when he has the power to change and heal hearts? He hides behind this idea that we are to learn lessons and become stronger. It’s cruel and I want no part of it.

As I read my friend’s words, I knew I too had felt these very thoughts and more as I suffered through long periods of waiting. What is a believer to do in the midst of extreme despair? As believers our only answer is hope.

He is Our Hope

The weight of situations have left me feeling broken, alone, vulnerable, and angry. While listening to preachers talk about peace and comfort and better times, I have rarely connected better times with being in God’s presence. I know I have attributed better times with better circumstances; the problem would be resolved and the weight would fall off. Yet, Scripture is full of those who saw long times of waiting. Moses in the desert – not one time but twice, Joseph in prison, and David in hiding. And us his church waiting for his return. If I am honest, I do not want to be one of the waiting. I want to be one of the delivered.

How can I find hope and even believe there is anything to hope for in the face of so much pain? In the face of impossible situations and ones that may not change?

He is Our Deliverer

Hebrews 11, while it speaks of so many who were faithful and saw victory, also talks about suffering, mocking, flogging, sawn in two, stoned, killed by the sword. Destitute, afflicted, mistreated- of whom the world was unworthy. While many today want to make Jesus into some wise teacher, He is and was so much more.

He is the great deliverer. For some, that will be here on earth. They will see healing and change. But, many may never see deliverance until heaven. Regardless of when the hope that we long for is fulfilled, we can all stand sure of one thing- His presence. He has promised us His presence. Jesus said he was sending us a comforter. What does that mean but that we would require comfort? This world has trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.

Regardless of when the hope that we long for is fulfilled, we can all stand sure of one thing- His presence. Click To Tweet

He is Our Constant

I can see the weight of worry and despair fall off because He is my peace, who has broken down every wall. My problem will not go away. Some of my worries may never get better or even change until I walk the gates of heaven. But, He is constant. I can trust him with my agony knowing that He too, understands what it is like to suffer. I can lay my despair at the feet of Jesus and know if not now, then one day all will be redeemed. All will be made new. All will be as He intended.

Jesus too, suffered knowing that the only relief would be the cross. I can take comfort that in whatever I face He, who knew no sin, suffered in my place so that I will not face eternity with no hope. This is a different kind of hope than the one who does not know Jesus, our great high priest who, though was tempted, was without sin. I will forget this truth often and I hope that I can reach out to those who will gently remind me of what is good and true. I can pray and take time to train my heart to remember and meditate on His constancy.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:3, NIV

eberhard grossgasteiger