Ever found yourself second guessing a huge decision you made? I’m talking about where the implications weren’t minor, they were significantly impactful to you and your household or the organization you were in? Any hands raised out there? Mine are! Both of them!! I find myself in a season of waiting. Waiting for direction, waiting for avenues and opportunities, looking for more confirmations to encourage me that what I heard was indeed right. Stepping out in faith to be solely dependent on God is scary! This part of the season I’m in is a turning point based on what I was hearing and seeing the Lord call me to. To write. To rest. To restore my Spirit. To regain a handle on my household life. To heal. To grieve. To forgive.
We’ve all been through challenging times in our lives, but have you ever had a season that has consistently kicked your butt with back-to-back trials and tribulations and keeping you desperately crying out to the Lord? Ahem… I’m walking it out now!
You may be thinking, “why is being desperate for Jesus such a bad place to be?” Well, it isn’t but when you are being tried by the fire and the weight of the shield that’s blocking the flying arrows of accusation that are coming at you constantly, you just want to yield. You get tired. You just want to take a break and live a normal peaceful life for a few consistent weeks. Wouldn’t you?
Personally, for once in this season, I’m just asking that there be no bad reports, no drama, no controversy, no attorneys, no emotional fires to put out, just peace. While I’m here, let me go ahead and throw this request in too. Can I have a clear plan mapped out with details on what to do next, please? That would be a game changer for us all… if God were a genie in a bottle. But He’s not.
Do you ever ask yourself though, why is there so much going on? Where have I relinquished territory over to an unauthorized agent to come against my life? Where is this access being gained from? During this spiritual battle, have I let my guard down enough to allow strongholds to run rampant in my life? I know I pray. I keep my house covered in prayer and plea the blood of Jesus in the wee hours of the night as I walk through every room. Laying hands over doorposts and praying over the children as they sleep. Am I just box checking though? Am I praying in the right authority? Are you?
I’m sweetly reminded of Psalms 91 and the Lord whispering to my heart [paraphrased], “Keep your eyes on Me, stop looking at the problems. Yes, there is a lot going on beside you, but I have you covered in the shelter of my wings.”
When God gives His word, that’s it, end of discussion, it is finished. I’ve read the end of the book, we win! With that knowledge you’d think that should be all the assurance you need to stand on from here on out till Jesus returns... BUT (and yes notice the big “BUT” used for emphasis) we are human, and we are in constant need of reminding!
The bible tells us in James 1:22-24 how easily we can forget, pretty much immediately, what kind of person we are even after hearing the Word. Where is our faith with works? We can’t just hear the Word! We must apply it too!
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. James 1:22-24 NKJV
I know it’s not easy. The bible shows us that too. We saw how even Abram, before he became Abraham the father of many nations, had a hard time himself waiting on the Lord. The Lord told him in Genesis 12:2-3 that he would make him a great nation and in him all the families of the earth will be blessed. Keep in mind here that Abram was talking with the Lord. They were communing with one another. So you would think that all he had to do now was wait on the Lord’s word to come to pass.
Let’s look at the facts here, God talked and visited Abram on several occasions. They were homies! There was no reason for Abram not to trust. But we see later in Genesis 16, Abram and his wife Sarai made their own plan to help God out with the timing of bringing an heir into fruition, but that wasn’t Gods plan, it was theirs. From that decision there was strife and discord within the camp between Sarai and the Hagar, the maid servant. Poor Abram was torn between his bride and a son that he seeded from a lack of faith. Don’t worry, in Genesis 17, God redeemed what they did and spoke again to the establishment of a covenant between Abram and Himself. He was making Abram fruitful and multiplying him. This time, changing both their names to Abraham and Sarah.
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Genesis 17:6-7 NKJV
All this to say, I have hope and so should you. There is grace in the waiting.
“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NKJV
Despite all that is going on and the time that is passing by, be intentional with your time in seeking God’s will for this season. Is He growing your faith? Teaching you how to pray accordingly? Perhaps there is something He has spoken over you years back that He is wanting to resurface in your heart. Or maybe the pains and struggles you have been going through are an indication that it’s time to birth what you’ve been pregnant in the Spirit with?
Take this week to reflect on the times that you were going through a laborious season and write down what was birthed from it.
Father, I thank you for Your word that brings me strength in just reading it. Help me to be a doer of Your word so I don’t forget who You created me to be, a Kingdom Ambassador. I thank you for the grace in the wait. Some seasons can be painful, but we know that even in pregnancy, the pain is only temporary. A blessing is about to be birthed! You are faithful to complete what you have started in me. This is all for Your glory. I pray Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
In the wait with you,
Your little pearl – Perlita