While I Wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race

Even while I wait
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
(While I'm Waiting~John Waller)

Music is such a tool for me. It often expresses exactly what I am feeling, even when I can't find my own words. I heard this song on the radio when i took the boys to school this morning and it really spoke to me. Waiting is no fun. Waiting for seasons to change isn't always easy. Waiting for bad seasons to change is even harder! But the Lord reminded me that no matter what season I find myself, no matter what I am patiently (or impatiently!) waiting for, my "waiting on the Lord" should never be a passive thing. Just like the song says, "While I'm waiting, I will serve you, I'll be patient, I will not faint and I'll keep running the race." Really, that's our life in nutshell as we walk with the Lord. While we are waiting for the Lord to unfold His plan, we worship Him in spite of the silence, we serve Him regardless of our situation, and we keep running the race, even when we are weary and don't feel like it. All throughout scripture, God has shown how when we seek him, he reveals Himself, shows His plan, we obey, and His glory falls. From the building of the ark, to the tabernacle, from the Jericho march until the cross, God continually shows His plan, invites us to participate in obedience, and then flood us with His presence, glory and unmistakable ability to make a way where there seemed to be no way. I am in a waiting time right now. It's not necessarily fun, or where I want to be, but I can truly say I am peaceful. I am taking steps toward God and what He has next on the horizon. I am serving Him in where ever I am, while keeping my eye steadfast on Him, waiting for that cloud to lift and begin to move, yet staying firm right where I am until it does.

Relentless

Our Pastor preached on this passage of scripture yesterday, and it lit a fire underneath me!

Luke 18:1-8
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,  saying:

“There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”


Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Verse 1, which sets the tone for the whole parable-ALWAYS pray and don't lose heart!
So many times I pray once or twice, and then wonder if God is even listening, and whine because I haven't received my expected answer yet! I am learning to be consistent with fervor!

But then, the next verses really get me...So here's a widow, who is determined to not only have her case HEARD by this ungodly, uncaring judge, but she also demanded that she be avenged by what her adversary had done against her. She wasn't mousy or timid, she wasn't even polite or well mannered. She was at a point in her life where she knew the judge had the power to answer her plea, and she was not about to take no for an answer. She badgered and bothered and just plain wore that judge's ear out, by her constant petition, until he couldn't stand it any longer and granted her request. It wasn't her faith that moved him. It wasn't her knowledge of scripture or her social position that made the judge act. It was sheer relentlessness on the part of a woman who had been wronged, seeking justice.

Then, God relates this parable to our life, and said: (paraphrased) If that judge, who had no regard for God, and cared nothing for people can bring a swift judgement in favor of the widow, HOW MUCH MORE can our Lord in heaven hear our prayers and act on them in our favor to avenge us against what the adversary has stolen from us? If we continue to pray always for our answer, and don't give up hope, and be relentless in our drive to hear from God and see His justice in our situations, he WILL come through for us! I think our culture has taught us not to beg, and to keep our manners and stop repeating ourselves. Dear Abby has made a living out of telling us how we should behave and the way we should speak. If the truth be told, this widow, in modern times, would be treated as someone with a mental condition who is a little off her rocker. Clearly she would not have been featured on any etiquette magazine. Especially down here in the South, where you hear people always quoting quaint sayings like "Well, you catch more flies with honey." But this passage reminds me that there are times we need to fight persistently, without letting up or giving in, for the situations where we have been wronged-where the devil has come in and robbed us in broad daylight, and we in ourselves have no power to do a thing about it, except to be passionate and determined in asking God, day and night, to bring justice to that situation. Whether it be a loss of a job, years robbed by disease, or any other way the enemy has come against us and the ones we love. And then, when we have persevered, and our justice comes, the adversary is bound to pay back seven times what he stole in the first place! (Proverbs 6:31).

So I am determined to:
PRAY
PRAY without giving in
PRAY believing that God will act
EXPECT justice
EXPECT restoration of what was stolen times seven
and be RELENTLESS until I see it come to pass!

What are you believing for? God is able-Don't give up!

Against All Odds

Yesterday during praise and worship at church, the Lord dropped a word in my heart: "Speak the things which aren't as though they are." I began to declare things in my life that align with God and His plan for my life, even though I can't see it happening yet. When I got home, I looked up that scripture and found it in Romans.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and

calls into being things that were not.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Romans 4:16-24

Since we are called to be imitators of Christ, (1 Corinthians 11:1), and Jesus spoke the words of the Father, (John 12:50), we too should speak what the Father has spoken to us, even when we haven't seen even a trace of it coming to pass. I love in the verse above how it says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him." Against all hope! Is there anything that seems to be against all hope in your life? I think about my Dad, and how his physical condition is right now. Looking at his situation logically and pragmatically, it seems that all hope is lost. I suppose Lazarus being dead for four days posed that same perplexing state. I suppose Sarah at the age of 90, well past childbirth years did as well. I guess Naaman and his incurable leprocy adds to the list. And don't forget Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego..and Daniel with those lions...and even Jesus, as he hung, lifeless, on the cross. What do you need to speak today, AS THOUGH IT WERE, even though at the moment it most definitely is not? Let's do it, and see what the Lord will do. Let's provoke the Lord with our faith and watch Him work miracles in areas that we had previously deemed hopeless.