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Posts Tagged ‘waiting’

Waiting with a Purpose

Posted in God, God Stories, Holy Spirit, love, Marriage, Prayer, Priorities, Spiritual Growth, The Father, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know of anyone that likes waiting.  I have met people, typically persons I would characterize as mature or wise, who dutifully accept waiting, but to say I know people who get excited about waiting, that would be a NO.  But for the past several weeks as we have been on a journey from a cancer diagnosis now through a surgery and next, a deeper diagnosis, waiting has been one of the constant undercurrents.  Surprisingly it has not been the dread that, at an earlier time in my life, I am sure it would have been.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) comes to mind as I sit in this time of not-yet-knowing.

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.

I have a relationship with God, my Heavenly Father, because of what Jesus did for me.  In a small chapel in the piney woods of central Louisiana, Jesus made me an offer that I accepted.  He offered me a new life, one walking with Him from that moment forward.  It required my letting Him have dominion over everything, but He promised He would never leave me or forsake me.  For 40+ years He has been true to His promise.  He has been tangibly present for over forty years.  I have grown to know His leading through His Word, through the community of faith He has placed me in, and the witness of the Holy Spirit living in me. 

This is an offer that is available to every single human being.  It is His desire that we all become His children walking in a life-giving, love-saturated, joy-filled relationship with Him.  I share this as context to this strange phenomenon I am in.  I am at peace in this waiting.  I sense changes occurring in my soul as I wait in a place of trust.

As an engineer I do my research.  I’ve read some of the stats.  If the cancer has spread, the potential five-year survival rate goes down significantly.  In a detached way I acknowledge this potential knowing that Jesus has not left or forsaken me, therefore I wait in hope.  Those same percentages that are not in my favor do not compare to the One who is in my favor.  The odds of this working out for God’s glory and my good are 100% as I wait upon Him, as I put my trust in Him. 

I started to say “put my WHOLE trust in Him”, but I know that I bring all that I can and let Him supply what lacks.  I have learned that is often what the waiting is about.  Learning to release control.  Or more accurately, learning to release the illusion of control to the One who is able to meet all our needs.  Waiting on the Lord is the place where faith and patience are nurtured and grown. 

Waiting on the Lord fulfills His purpose in several ways.  As I look back, I can see the younger me and realize many changes wrought through the Lord’s work in times of waiting.

  1. The need to control situations to meet my perception of “good”.  While I would have said, I wanted the Lord’s will, there was often a flavoring of what I thought was best.  I often didn’t see God’s big picture point of view. 
  2. A bias towards action and doing something rather than beginning with prayer and waiting for direction.  Boy are there a lot of toes I’ve stepped on trying to “make things happen”.  (My apologies to you if you are one of those whose toes I’ve stepped on.)
  3. My understanding of Ephesians chapter 5 and what marriage looks like.  This one took years of waiting and being reminded by the Holy Spirit to “love Lisa like Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.”  (There will be more on this in the future!)
  4. Being male and an engineer, when presented with a problem, I naturally go into “figure it out and fix it” mode.  Not all problems require that formula.  In fact, that is the wrong approach at times.  The Lord’s work is often best achieved by pausing and allowing Him lead.  This is Spirit-led action after waiting on the Lord.
  5. Related to the one above, sometimes being present and inviting the Lord into the midst of the problem is all we are to do.  The Lord’s work is sometimes accomplished by my being there but stepping out of the way.  This is Spirit-led stillness after waiting on the Lord.

I find it no coincidence that this fresh season of waiting for us corresponds with our Bible reading plan in the letters of Paul.  Trials, afflictions, and times of waiting fill the chapters we have been reading.  Yet we read about joy and patience and hope not instead of, but in the midst of the challenges Paul and the early believers faced.  Things have not changed in this respect.  While we have many creature comforts unavailable to our ancestors, we still deal with sickness, hardship, loss, and death. 

Thanks be to God, the same Holy Spirit who gave comfort and guidance to the early Church is present with us in all our affliction.  He is not in any way constrained today from giving us what we need.   In fact, it is often through our affliction that we become keenly aware of our need for His help, guidance and comfort.  A key though is to realize the timing is the Lord’s.  Instant gratification is NOT God’s typical way.  No, He gives us this precious gift of time to allow the better work, the deeper work, the soul work to take place. 

Earlier in my walk with Christ, I remember asking the LORD to hurry up and give me patience… His response was a No and Yes.  He did not hurry up.  But in the waiting, I have seen much fruit grow including a patience that the younger me wanted, but struggled to attain. 

Friend, while I don’t know what your situation is, I have a pretty good sense that if not now, at some time in the near future you will be tasked with waiting.  It is my prayer as I finish today’s post that you will experience the Lord’s purpose in your waiting.  Let go of having to have answers right now and reach for having intimacy with Him.  The LORD loves you and He has the best in mind for you.  Sit with Him and rest knowing that the Lover of your soul is all in for you.  He will supply exactly what you need when you wait upon the Lord.

Be blessed my friends as you wait upon the LORD!

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Not What You Expect

Posted in Beautiful Places, God, God Stories, Photography, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Certain lessons seem to be particularly important for me to “get” because they are being reinforced  almost weekly.  Last week an exclamation point was made on the lesson – “It may not be what you expect, but trust Me, My plan is better!”

We visited our two married daughters over the course of last week.  Rhiannon and Jeff in Chattanooga Thursday – Sunday morning and then Christin and Michael in Elizabethton Sunday – Tuesday.  Everything went pretty much like we planned with Rhiannon and Jeff, but it seemed like every plan we made with Christin had to be scrapped or modified heavily.  No worries, we were just happy to be spending time together.

Monday afternoon one modified plan had us drive to the top of Roan Mountain where we enjoyed some beautiful views from the bald mountain top.  The wonderful 360 degree view had us thinking about sunrise pics over the NC mountains.  Checking the weather in Elizabethton, 20 miles away we saw that the weather report was promising and the plan was hatched.

 

Tuesday morning we arose at 4:45 am and we were headed out of town 15 minutes later.  We were excited to see a star studded sky as we rolled out of Elizabethton heading toward Roan Mountain.  Two miles from the top of the mountain was when I first noticed the moisture on the road.  A mile from the top I noticed the stiff breeze that hadn’t been present on any of our drive thus far.  Shortly thereafter wisps of cloud started sweeping across in front of the car and for the last 200 yards I had to drive at a snail’s pace into the parking lot because of the thick fog.

We were still an hour before sunrise.  I am quite used to fog.  But fog is usually stationary settling into the low areas on windless mornings.  On the mountaintop it was foggy with a 15 – 20 mph breeze driving it.  Undeterred we gathered camera, tri-pod, flashlights and goody bag and headed up the 3/4 mile hike to the top of the mountain in a cold, drizzly, windy fog hoping for the best.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-1-4

This is about 15 minutes before sunrise and we were beginning to think the sun may not actually burn through the fog like we were hoping.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-2-4

This is when you kinda wished you hadn’t been told about the number of bear sightings up on the mountain.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-3-4

Inside the woods the wind was blocked and it was eerily peaceful.

That breeze that we experienced in the Parking Lot was a foretaste and not the real deal.  We broke out of the woods about half way to the top and realized that the exposed mountain bald seemed to increase the wind intensity by at least a factor of two.

We made it to the top of the mountain, thankful that we had also been there the day before so we recognized some rock outcroppings as landmarks.  We hunkered down behind a rock for a bit hoping the clouds would clear and we would get some sunrise shots.  But while the clouds around us brightened as sunrise arrived the wind didn’t let up and the fog never thinned.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-2

The view right at sunrise… at least according to our watch.

A little shelter on the mountain top.
Leaving the mountain bald behind
The forest path back to the car.

Since we had been to the mountain the day before, we knew that amazing panoramic views existed from right where we were huddled.  Yet the wind, fog, and rain made it difficult to remember just how beautiful it was.  I was struck with how graphic an illustration that is of the impact of trials in our life.  When life is good it’s easy to see God’s hand at work.  But when trials press upon us it often becomes much harder to discern God’s actions on our behalf.  It is in these times that our faith is stretched.  Holding onto the reality that we have previously experienced – God’s faithful provision, is just like remembering the mountain view we had seen the day before.  We may not see it at the moment, but we know it exists.  Our task is to remember and wait for the reality to be revealed again.

We slowly made our way back down to the car and then headed back down the mountain.  A deer  came up beside us on the road and we slowed to let it pass.  A mile down the road we were out of the fog.

As we progressed down the mountain we saw sunshine followed by a brief rain shower.  The thought passed through my mind, “Sun and rain, I wonder if there’s a rainbow somewhere?”  Through a break in the trees just prior to the final overlook I could see a shower in the valley beside the mountain and a slight brightening where the sun was trying to break through.  As we rounded the curve at the final overlook this is the view that we saw.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-11

We were shocked by how quickly this rainbow appeared.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-12

The colors were vibrant and yet it was continually shifting from a single to a double and from a full to a partial rainbow.

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For a few seconds it formed a full rainbow… and we just happened to be in the right spot to catch it in all it’s glory.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-14

We couldn’t quite tell if the pot of gold was in that little barn or the orchard beside it.  What we knew for a certainty was that our Heavenly Father was enjoying our laughter and celebration with us as we alternately uttered words of praise and gasps of wonder while we snapped pics.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-15

The double rainbow was fleeting, but we saw it come and go two or three times in then 3 – 5 minutes the rainbow was visible.

Roan Mountain - Fog and Rainbows-16

Looking toward the sun… and giving praise to the Son.

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The final pic as the shower ceased and the rainbow quickly faded.

The entire rainbow celebration lasted less than 5 minutes, but a number of things stood out to me.

  • We had to make the journey to be able to see the rainbow.  We didn’t know the rainbow was the purpose and penultimate pic of the trip, but our Father did.
  • We tarried in the dark, in the rain, in the wind, in the fog, and ultimately made close to a 2 mile hike seemingly in a lost cause, but God had a better plan.
  • We had to be in exactly the right spot AND at exactly the right time to see and enjoy the rainbow like we did.  If we had rushed at any point in the morning’s journey we would have missed it.
  • Our response to seeing the rainbow was pure wonder, celebration, and thankfulness to our gracious heavenly Father for this simple, but beautiful blessing.  And I believe He enjoyed it as much as we did.

Finally I remember where God first introduced the rainbow to His creation.  It’s in Genesis chapter 9:12-17.  And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

We didn’t get what we expected, but what we got was so much better.

And that’s just the way God is with His children.

Be blessed today and be a blessing!  If you like this, please share it with a friend.

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