Wait

I have always been a horrible “wait-er”.  I want things to happen now! Whether I am trying to learn something new, wanting to do something, or most importantly waiting on God I am horrible at it! The first time I picked up a guitar to learn to play I wanted to be able to play a whole song, and sing RIGHT THEN!  The thing I am most horrible at though is waiting on God, I am what some may call a control freak, and letting him have complete control every day is a struggle for me! A friend let me in on this really cool story the other day found in 1 Kings 17:2-24

Elijah Fed by Ravens

2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

Reading this I picture Elijah in the wilderness WAITING on God. He waited for food, he waited for instruction, and while he waited God was always faithful. I feel like I am in my own wilderness right now WAITING, but I often get tired of waiting and grab the wheel back from God. I take control thinking somehow that I can do better. I grow weary of waiting. This one story is not the only one in the bible where someone was in the "wilderness", and was called to wait. It also is not the only story that God was faithful to those who waited. I have learned his ways are not my ways, they are greater. To wait on him and his way is far better than trying to control it on my own.

Isaiah 55:1-11

New International Version (NIV)

Invitation to the Thirsty

55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,

    come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

    come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

    and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

    and you will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;

    listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

    my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

    a ruler and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

    and nations you do not know will come running to you,

because of the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel,

    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;

    call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake their ways

    and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Psalm 27:14 “ Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Wasted

I was drying my hair this morning praying a pray I received at Leadership Summit last month thanking God for the opportunity he has given me to speak of him in many different circumstances, and promising to give him my time. I stopped. I have been praying that prayer for  over a month and I couldn’t help but think of all the times I have wasted just in this month having my own agenda. Sure I have spent time with him in many different ways, but I have also wasted A LOT of time watching pointless shows, looking at Facebook for the hundredth time, and many more pointless things. Don’t get me wrong I understand that 100% of our time in reality won’t be spend reading the bible and listening to sermons but that’s just the start of spending time with him. We can spend time with him not matter what our activity or routine is all day. BUT how much time do we waste that could be spent with him? I am a sucker for reality shows, my thought process usually goes like this “ It’s been a long day and I want to relax so I think I’m going to watch the newest episode of The Bachelor Pad.” What happens is I am very entertained for about an hour, the show ends and I am not as relaxed as I hoped to be. I am not fulfilled, renewed, or any other life giving emotion. Now when I read my bible, a Christian book, listen to a Sermon, turn some worship music on, or simply just talk to him I always find what I need. I find restoration, hope, joy, and truth just to name a few. But yet I still find myself wasting time, in fact today I have probably already wasted time that I could have used differently.

A story in Luke 10:38-41 of wasted time concentrating on things that didn’t matter went something like this (paraphrased) Martha was getting everything ready because JESUS had stopped by her house. She was preparing the food, picking up, etc. Now Mary her sister realized that TIME spent with Jesus was the most important thing, and was listening to what he had to say. Martha gets mad because she is doing all the work, tells Jesus to make her sister help and Jesus said “ Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Oh how I can relate to Martha! She thought she was doing what needed to be done but really all she needed was time spent with her LORD.  Even if you don’t waste your time on pointless reality shows like I do, this story is a clear example that we sometimes waste time on things we may think need to be done but really don’t. We NEED to seek our LORD first, We NEED to spend time in his word, WE NEED to spend time with the one that cannot be taken from us.

I am NOT strong enough

I am a very strong willed girl when it comes to certain things. As a matter of fact this weekend my Dad called me his strong willed daughter. Nothing makes me as mad as when someone makes a statement that because I’m a girl I can’t do it. This has caused me to get into many burn outs playing catch with guys who think I can’t throw harder, leaving bruises on my brother in law because he was teasing me, moving furniture that I was told was too heavy for me, taking care and mowing my yard when asked “sweetheart can I do that for you”,  and many more countless things just so I can say see I AM strong enough! BUT get ready because I am about to say something that I don’t say often, “I AM NOT strong enough!” Through a set of multiply events in my life this morning I got to my knees and said “God I can’t do it, I’m not strong enough, I mess up, I can’t handle it any longer.” Now I firmly believe God talks to everyone in different ways and at different times. I by no means think he answers me with a clear auto voice every time I cry out to him but within an instance I heard “I am your strength” my weary soul that was close to giving up was lifted, my heart that was broken felt like it was mending, and my strength that had diminished was renewed. I so often feel like I can do it, I don’t need anyone because quite frankly I do not want to be seem weak. But what a joy it is to be weak because in my weakness I find his strength.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I always think I can do it on my own, I think that my strength is enough but it never is. It never is sufficient, and it runs out way too quickly. But God the creator of the earth who is all powerful gives power to the weak and weary. When I rely on my own strength, when I think I can do it on my own I become exhausted and feel as if I can’t go on. But Praise be to my God who renews my strength, who is powerful when I am weak. So now instead of saying I am strong enough, I am going to start saying HE is strong enough and I am weak, because when I am weak, then I am strong

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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 40:28-31

Bitterness weed

A few days ago I decided to take on the big task of cleaning up my back yard, the one thing on my to do list I had been putting off. Now the reason I had been putting it off was because in just a few weeks my weed free yard from the last cleanup had become a weed infested mess! I looked out my back window every day at these weeds and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I got my work clothes on, and hauled my trash can to my backyard to start working. I bent down to pull the first large group of weeds and found that what looked like many different weeds was one plant. One plant that had one root that had spread itself so much on the surface it was taking over a large portion on the ground. I couldn’t believe it, now could this little bitty root of a plant take over my whole yard? What looked like a mountain of a mess had been caused by about five single plants. The yard clean up I had been delaying in fear of it taking all day, and a lot of work took me about twenty minutes of good solid pulling. My weed problem reminded me of what bitterness has done to my life the last couple of years. One small sentence or action that left me bitter towards family or friends quickly grew into a wide spread weed that overtook my life. You see this bitterness I held towards others unable to forgive like Christ forgave me only hurt me. I spend months and years saying under my breathe “Well this is all their fault! How could they had done me so wrong, not loved me like they should’ve, judged me, and said hurtful words.” I held so tightly to bitterness, rage, and anger that I was only making the weed spread even more over my life. Even when I didn’t want it to bitterness ruled, it kept me from moving forward towards freedom. It kept me enslaved to its life sucking manner. I wanted freedom but fell short until it hit me that the bitterness I had held onto for so long needed to be let go. I had a Savior who came to forgive my sins, who took everything for me while I was still a sinner. I did not deserve this precious sacrifice, but yet I sill received it. I sat in the joy of being forgiven but still did not forgive others. Ephesians 4:31-32 says this “31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Bitterness had done nothing for me! It didn’t change the hurt, and quite frankly no matter how much I tried to pay them back for what they did to me I never felt relief. Don’t get me wrong I still strive for this everyday but once I started to forgive others for the wrong I felt they had done me I started to feel freedom. Inside what had been a mess of weedy bitterness and anger started to get weeded away to forgiveness and love. Bitterness starts small and begins to overtake you just like the weeds did my yard. Don’t let it invade your life any longer!  Let go of the anger and bitterness you hold and forgive like Christ forgave you.

Receive Grace, Have Hope

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16

“Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Ever since I can remember I have been told that Jesus was sent to die for my sins, and was crucified on the cross so that I may be forgiven. I listened, I thought I understood but yet I still thought I needed to perform. I had come to the conclusion that even though he came to forgive it once and for all that it was still somehow determined on my actions or lack of actions. Thoughts were always focused on how I could make myself better. I spent so much time focused on my past, present, and even future sins that I didn’t focused on that Jesus came to die for those, he came so that I could be made new in him. Given a new mind, heart, and soul in him if I only let that be my focus. This world is self-performance based, you get where you are going on your own and that is success. We so often take the worlds view on for our salvation, but our salvation has already been earned for us.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

We have been saved not by our works, not by ourselves but through Christ who died for our sins once and for all. We have been saved by receiving the gift of grace God gave us, and having faith.

Since we now has received this grace now we put our hope in God. In Matthew 14:22-33 It is the story of Peter and Jesus walking on water. Peter choose to put his hope in Jesus and trusted as he stepped out on the water walking towards Jesus. For one second he started to take his hope and confidence off of Jesus and began to sink. He cried out and Jesus caught him and said “ You of little faith, why did you doubt?.” This is a great example of so many Christians today, we began to have hope and confidence in Christ, but then lose sight of him and sink. We start to trust humans, possessions, our own selves but in Psalms it says

“Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalm 146:3-5

Our hope and help does not come from us, it does not come from the world, it does not come from the possessions we own. Our hope is in the Lord our God. The one how knows everything about you, who hears every cry, knows every fear, sees every victory, and loves you with the greatest love. Our hope is found in the one who will never fail, never give up on us. May you be strengthened in this hope we can find in him.

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-19

Needs

I always think I need a lot of things. I need that new shirt, I need to clean my car, I need a Diet Vanilla Dr. Pepper from sonic, or a cookie from Eileens! But an event that has taken place in the last couple days has really changed my view on what I "need". Evey time I have thought I have needed something it has drawn me back to the thought of what I really need more than anything in this world. I stop and think do I honestly think about my own needs of worldly things more than I think about the one who meets all our needs. I have my needs and my wants all mixed up, I dont trust in the plan of the one who said I will meet all your needs. I serve the giver of time but want things to happen on my time, I serve the God of living bread but want to feed myself, I serve the God that makes the old gone and the new come but want to change myself, I serve the God who created me in his image but want to look the way the world tells me. My only need is to truly listen, love, and serve the God who is patiently waiting on me the God who loves me more than I will ever know, who finds joys in meeting my true needs.

Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

He meets our needs not our wants, he meets the things that line up to his glory and his word.

He holds you bu the right hand.

Because we are human and live in a fallen world we are always going to have ups and downs in our life. But the promise of our Heavenly father limits how far down we can go. Sometimes I feel as if im free falling when people or circumstances in my life let me down. I am grabbing for anything to help me stop, but as soon as I remember God's presence in my life my grip can take hold of that. Instead of letting our circumstances push us down we can look to him for help. He not only is with us but he is holding us by our right hand.

Psalm 73:23-26

²³ Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you? 
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

When life gets us down we need to hold onto the truth that God is there to save us, he is a mighty warrior ready to save. He takes delight in you, he loves you, he wants to hold you and guide in on your path giving you peace, understanding, strength, hope, grace, and love.

Zephaniah 3:17

¹⁷ The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”