Rayni Peavy | Encountering God in Everyday Life

Renewed Passion Makes You Soar

May 17, 2013 by admin

Last week someone asked me what to do if you have lost sight of what you’re passionate about. That’s a universal and important question, isn’t it?

Passion for life, work, relationships and ministry is so important because it helps drive us forward with hope and excitement. So when we feel like we’ve lost sight of our passion in any area, it can be hugely discouraging and even crippling.

Regaining Passion
I best way I know to regain passion is to connect with Jesus. He is the source of life and He is the author of all the passions, desires, dreams and gifts in us. God’s the originator of every promise in His word and the creator of every wonderful plan He has for us.

Even King David, who was called the man after God’s own heart, got sidetracked, tangled in sin and discouragement. In Psalm 51:12 he says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David asked God to restore his joy of simply being saved. And when his joy was restored I believe his passion for life was also restored.

Remaining in Christ
For me, remaining in Christ, staying intimately connected with the source of life and passion, is the main way I stay rejuvenated and passionate. How do I stay connected? Reading the Bible daily, prayer, worship, going to church, fellowshiping with other believers, listening to sermons online. Reading testimonies of what God has done in and through other people and remembering what He has done for me. These are all a huge part of remaining encouraged and invigorated.

I’ve realized that the more I am intentional about seeking God, the more I am filled with peace, joy, passion and direction.

Also, having a vision or revelation from God for what He’s called you to do, what you’re working toward–having goals–is so important. A few months ago God gave me a huge new passion for a specific type of ministry and showed me several goals to work toward with it. Because of that I have had so much new passion and excitement as I’m working, knowing that God is leading me. If you don’t have a vision of what God wants you to work toward—in life, relationships, job, ministry, etc.- ask God to give you vision! Proverbs 29:18 says that without vision the people perish.

Waiting While We Wait
In April we talked a lot about waiting on God and I am reminded that I need to wait while I wait. What does that mean? While we are waiting for a promise or dream or healing or renewed passion—or whatever it is we are waiting for—it’s so important to spend time “waiting” on God. Seeking Him. Being still before Him. Or we could call it waiting with God.

In Hebrew the word “Qavah” means “wait”. And we see this word in a well-known verse in Isaiah 40:31.

“Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.”

Qavah is a verb, which means that waiting is an action. Waiting on God is an active pursuit. And qavah also has some other interesting definitions:

To twist, stretch, bind together; the tension of enduring. Endure, remain, to expect.

Other Bible translations translate qavah as “trust” or “hope” in place of “wait”. And yet when we wait on God doesn’t He fill us with trust and hope? And while we’re waiting He’s stretching us spiritually, and binding us beautifully to Himself as we surrender to Him. It can be difficult but we have to endure in that waiting to reap the treasure He has for us from the experience.

A Couple Other Thoughts
I think God always wants us to feel passion toward Him and with what He gives us to do. But sometimes I believe God lets our passion wane for certain things because He’s moving us on to something new. (I’m not talking about covenant relationships you’re in, i.e. your marriage). But there may be other areas or interests that God will lead you away from and will give you fresh passion for the new thing He’s preparing for you.

Or it may even be that you need to take a step back, for a time, from the thing you’ve lost passion for and let God renew that passion.

Another possibility could be that your expectations haven’t been met because God has another plan, but your loss of passion comes from disappointment. Ask God if that’s what has tanked your passion.

Part of that discerning comes from waiting on Him and sensing His loving guidance in every area of life.

So today, whatever it is you’re waiting on, remember to wait with the Author of Life and ask Him to renew your passion. He will. He really will.

Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , Isaiah 40, Waiting on God, when passion disappears | No Comments
Remaining Anchored During Life’s Storms

April 30, 2013 by admin

[Guest Post by Jen Johnston] When I was thirteen years old, I attended a winter camp with my youth group. I’ll never forget the night that the camp speaker called me out from the crowd saying, “Young lady, when you encounter storms in your life remember Peter. When Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. It was only when he focused on the storm that he began to sink.” I should have guessed then that encountering storms would become a way of life for me. And it has.

The good thing about storms, though, is that they do pass.

We cannot control what bad weather may come our way or how hard a storm will hit. What we can control is how we respond and position ourselves as we wait for a break in the weather.

Believe me, I know how difficult the waiting period can be.

Heartbreak, infertility, health troubles, marriage struggles and financial pressure are just a few of the storms that have given me the opportunity to learn how to wait on Him.

So how do we position ourselves as we wait upon Him?

Whether it be a promise, a healing, or a breakthrough we’re waiting for, I believe that our stance is the same. I want to share with you a few suggestions that have worked for me over the years, while recognizing that this is by no means a comprehensive list!

Keep your eyes on God. I can’t emphasize this one enough because I have tried the alternative and it isn’t pretty. When we take our focus off of the Lord and start looking around at the storm raging about us, what happens? FEAR comes in like a flood! We are distracted by all of the scary possibilities of what MIGHT happen (yet usually never do). This throws me off course every single time. The Lord is my anchor. Truth is my anchor. His words and promises keep me on course, even when I can’t see clearly what’s ahead.

Practice gratitude. I love this quote by Melody Beattie: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.” Something that I recommend to my health coaching clients is keeping a gratitude journal. When the wait feels long and the journey has been difficult, try writing down three things you’re grateful for each morning when you wake up and each night when you go to bed. I do this with my children and it shifts the atmosphere like nothing else.

Pursue a passion. Trust me on this one. Pursuing a passion during a horrible trial literally saved my life. Feeling like a prisoner of my circumstances, suffering from endless stress-related physical ailments, I chose to go after a dream rather than spend one more day suffering alone in my bed. I registered with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and, like a miracle, my health was quickly returned to me as I re-aligned myself with what God created me to do. Hope for a better life was stirred up in me and the Lord gave me the grace to activate this same hope in the lives of others. No good comes from sitting idle in a puddle of misery waiting for the breakthrough to come. Trust me, I tried it.

Immerse yourself in community. Surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you. Look for those who encourage you and remind you of who you are in Christ. Choose friends who can recall for you what God has spoken when you need to hear it most. My favorite people are those who have already obtained victory in an area I’m fighting for victory in and are willing to run with me to the finish line. Look for a community of people like this, even if it’s just a few people, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable with them.

I hope that you are encouraged today in the midst of your own storm. No matter what we go through, God is unchanging. He is always good, always faithful, and always with us. And this storm, too, shall pass.

Jen Johnston, born and raised at Bethel Church in Redding, California, is a Holistic Health Coach and the founder of Thrive Holistic Health Coaching. She received her B.A. in Ministry and Leadership from Vanguard University and is currently completing her health coaching certification with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Jen’s mission is to impart a message of hope and health to every part of a person. Her passion to see others thrive despite circumstances has been birthed out of her own personal journey of overcoming trials and health challenges for over 15 years. Learn more at www.JenJohnston.com and on Jen’s Facebook page.

Category Devotionals, Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , health coaching, Jen Johnston, keep your eyes on Jesus, life storms, Thrive | No Comments
My First Podcast!

April 26, 2013 by admin

Hi Everyone! I hope you’ve been enjoying the theme this month of “Waiting on God”. Haven’t the guest posts been great?! Next week we have one final guest post and I’ll also write one more post about the topic.

Before then, I’m so excited to announce that I have a new Podcasts tab on the website and my first podcast is up for you to listen to. My goal is to post two a month and for them to be short words of encouragement and teaching.

This week I’m talking about the subject Where God Leads He Provides! We’ll take a brief look at the life of Ezra. It’s very encouraging so take a few minutes to listen!

Click here to listen.

Category Devotionals, Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , Ezra, Podcast, Where God leads He'll provide. God is faithful | No Comments
Beautiful Desires

April 23, 2013 by admin

[Guest Post by Tiffany Dawn] There is one dream I’ve been waiting for my whole life.

I dreamed of being a missionary to China, and I’ve been to China.

I dreamed of writing a book, and I’ve released The Insatiable Quest for Beauty.

I dreamed of traveling and speaking, and that just began with a full-time, cross-country speaking tour.

With every dream, there have been years of waiting. Refining. Refocusing.

There’s been a deep, ripping surrender, and then the sweetness of surrender’s reward. There’s been that moment of awe when you realize God hasn’t left you hanging, but has fulfilled your heart’s desire.

But there’s one dream that still hasn’t come.

I’m 26-years-old, been to 40+ weddings, dated several great guys, and am still single.

And for me, that’s a big deal, because my dream was to get married by 20 and move to China with my husband. (Hasn’t happened…yet.)

People used to tell me that once I became content in my singleness, God would send me “the one.” I thought of it like a magic charm – become content with what you have and you’ll get what you want! So I tried to make myself content being single, scrape away desire from my soul, tell myself (and God) (and others) that I didn’t want or need a relationship.

Only it wasn’t true. I was trying to manipulate my emotions, but truth was, I desperately wanted a husband to share my life with.

For years I felt guilt-ridden because I wanted to get married. I thought the desire meant I wasn’t content, wasn’t fully satisfied in Christ. The thing is, the desire for marriage wasn’t wrong. God actually planted that desire inside me and made it beautiful. It becomes even more beautiful when I surrender it over and over, even though I desperately want it.

Surrendering our heart’s desire says, “Lord, I want You even more than this dream. I choose Your way.” Years passed and I was tormented by the belief that I was still single because I wasn’t content yet. Perhaps I’d remain single the rest of my life because I couldn’t get this desire under control!

About a year and a half ago I was dating a wonderful young man, when God clearly put on my heart that I needed to break up with him. I thought, “Once again I could be planning my wedding for next summer to a great guy. And You want me to end it?” But I had to choose Him.

I knew in the rest of my life that when I was willing to surrender, He always came through and fulfilled His promises beyond my wildest dreams.

It took longer than I wanted, but ultimately when my way was replaced with His way, I gained the sweetest of rewards, chief of all being a deeper intimacy with Him. After being single all of my life, and through some awful disappointments and breakups, the loneliness came back at me full force.

I cried out to God once again, the same as many such cries, and said, “If you want me to be single, I need you to take away this urgent desire, because it’s paralyzing me! I can’t breathe!”

And for the first time in my life, He took the edge off it. He answered my prayer, and then allowed me to release my book and begin traveling and speaking. Suddenly I understood.

All those times I’d asked why I had to be single when I was working a 9-5 desk job, it was because there was more coming. Each time I’d said, “God, there is nothing I’m doing that should prevent me from getting married!” He was thinking, “Just wait and see.” Finally my singleness made sense!

I still want to get married, and yet God has given me a deeper contentment than I’ve ever known.

It’s nothing I’ve manipulated or conjured up myself; it’s a rest in Him that HE and HE ALONE has given me. A gift.

Right now, it’s not hard to be single. I actually thank God continually for my singleness! Without it, I wouldn’t have this incredible faith journey cross-country with just me and God. I wouldn’t be able to do all the things He’s put in my heart. I have a purpose in the singleness, and that makes all the difference.

However, the desire isn’t gone. I still want to get married someday. God has just poured grace over my life to be emotionally, mentally, and spiritually fuller than I’ve ever been before.

This is my rambling way of saying:

Contentment isn’t a magic potion to get what we want; it’s simply a surrendered state of heart.

He calls us not to despise our dreams, but to surrender them over and over, to wrestle with the desire, and to say, “I’m Yours anyway. I choose You anyway.” Then He’ll either replace it with His dream for us, or fulfill it in His time.

I’m still waiting for this dream to be fulfilled, but through that waiting God is refining me and making something beautiful in my life. Turning my dream into a beautiful desire.

26-year-old author, speaker, and singer/songwriter Tiffany Dawn has escaped her native New York winters by traveling cross-country on a speaking and book tour. She shares her journey into freedom from struggles with body image and identity through “The Insatiable Quest for Beauty” book and seminar. With her master’s degree in music therapy, Tiffany serves as adjunct faculty at an online high school, where she teaches music classes, including “Intro to Songwriting.” Some of her favorite things to do are watch spy movies, take long walks, eat marshmallows, and grab coffee with her girlfriends. For more info visit www.Tiffany-Dawn.net

Category Encouragement, Marriage & Relationships, Waiting on God | Tags: , Beautiful Desires, Desire to get married, Surrender dreams to God | 1 Comment
What to Look For in the Land of In-Between

April 19, 2013 by admin

[Guest Post by April McCullohs] I was sixteen when I stepped outside baggage claim and into the West Palm Beach air.

The sky had caramelized over, burnt brown and swollen with moisture, so thick it stuck to your lungs, and all I could remember was Dad’s promise that the skies here were crisp and blue, a far cry from the California haze we were accustomed to.

Fires had driven away the blue this week, Dad told us, on our drive to the townhouse.

Welcome to Florida, I thought.

It rained every day that July. At precisely 3:14 p.m.

And with the rain came lightning, the likes of which we had never witnessed before.

From the dock, we would watch the clouds roll in, pregnant with charcoal underbellies. The electrons would excite and flash across the skies, sometimes all at once, as if a light fuse had just burnt out; at other times, stretching from one end of grey to the other, long spidery fingers reaching, revealing networks and channels of energy, a map of the heavens, my grandmother’s varicose veins.

We were virgins to this phenomenon;

it was pure magic.

When the storm grew too close to the dock, thunder and lightning transpiring simultaneously, we’d get out the lawn chairs and watch from the garage, garage door pulled back like a velvet theater curtain, and the show would commence.

It was a rough transition, the move from California to Florida. My junior year of high school would start within weeks, and with it, a strange and difficult world to navigate, but the memory of my first lightning summer would stick with me.

Somehow, it spoke of promise.

—

Fourteen years later, the husband and I would venture out for the first time as a family, moving from Florida to Virginia. Anticipation filled my heart as we drove through state lines and the grey skies that welcomed us were acceptable, even romantic, those first few weeks.

And then the adrenaline wore off.

This Californian-born, Florida-transplanted, girl was in serious need of some warmth, in more ways than one.

On one particular morning, when my spirits were about as high as the clouds that wouldn’t lift, something outside caught my eye. It was a daffodil, growing around the base of the oak in our front yard.

And it had friends, about to bloom alongside.

Over the next several weeks, daffodils sprung up all over town. Their brazen yellow hues waged war against the grey, prophetically declaring that something better was coming, and soon.

Spring was on its way.

—

This is the way God works,

granting tokens of promise,

symbols of hope that speak to something better.

The Land of In-Between is a place every child of God must know. We’re pilgrims, after all, sojourners in this world. Were it not for unmet desires, for unfulfilled dreams, for unanswered longings, we might just settle here, content with a life full of blessings.

So, the promises are given.

And some of them will be fulfilled in this lifetime,

while others are destined to meet their glorious purpose on the other side.

In the meantime, we are to lift our eyes,

to not despair,

to press on and watch for

the lightning, the daffodils, the scripture and the Spirit,

the beauty of the now that whispers sweetly of glory to come.

April McCullohs has too many dreams for one lifetime. She lives in Virginia
with her two boys, Carter (5) and Walker (2) and her husband, Neal. They
eagerly anticipate their third child coming this October. April blogs at
aprilmccullohs.com, where she wrestles with the tension between this broken
world and the coming kingdom of God. She’d love to hop on a plane and start
a women’s clinic in Haiti, but for now, there’s burnt oatmeal to be scraped
out of breakfast bowls.

Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , April McCullohs, God's promises, Land of in-Between, lightening | 1 Comment
While You Wait, Remember to Live

April 16, 2013 by admin

If God has given you a promise, a deep desire, a dream…don’t let anyone laugh at it or kill it.

That includes you!

When we’re waiting for something to come to pass it’s easy to start second guessing our own dream. Is this really from God? Am I just full of it? Did I make that up?

When I’m asking myself those questions I know I need to continually surrender that dream, that hope, that desire to God and let Him work in His timing.

If He’s given you a promise it will come to pass.

And just as I was reminded from Jeremiah 29 recently, God is specific in His timing.

In Jeremiah 29 God has the prophet send a letter to the Israelites who were exiles in Babylon. The Israelites were there of their own doing, from failing to change their lives after many warnings from God. And they would remain in exile for 70 years. God tells them that up front.

All the Israelites wanted was to go back to their homeland. But for 70 years they would be waiting to return.

Waiting.

And yet in the midst of their waiting God doesn’t tell them to just sit around and mope, lost in a dream of the future.

No, He tells them to live their lives!

“This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and make yourselves at home. Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away. Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare.” (Jeremiah 29: 4-7, MSG)

God also reminds them that He has a specific timing in bringing them back to the place they long to return to.

“As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29: 10-11, MSG)

So, while the Israelites are waiting for that specific word of God to take place they are also living in the present.

Getting married. Building homes. Raising kids. Working. Worshiping God.

Sometimes when God plants a dream in our hearts, or gives us a specific promise of what is to come, we can get tired in waiting for it to come to pass. But be encouraged today that God knows the desires of your heart.

And even better, He knows the plans He has for you.

They’re good plans. Plans of hope and a future. Also know that when God wants to open a door He’ll do it in the best possible timing. Though the completion of the promise lingers…wait for it.

Like Sarah and Abraham had to wait for God’s promised child. Like Joseph had to wait for the prophetic dream God gave him to be proved true. Like Ruth had to wait for a new husband and a new life.

They all lived in the “now” as they waited. And they surely weren’t disappointed.

That seed that God has planted may seem dead and buried in the ground. But often when you least expect it, He’ll bring it bursting through the dirt with a little green sprout at just the right time.

Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , Delayed Hope, Jeremiah 29, Promises of God, Waiting on God | 2 Comments
Partnering with God

April 8, 2013 by admin
[Guest Post by Paula Friedrichsen] It takes perseverance to enter a season of sustained breakthrough, and it takes “continued perseverance” to go one step further and press into your destiny. Perseverance means “steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.”

The way to adequately maintain the perseverance needed to press into all God has for you is by “partnering with the prophetic.” Partnering with the prophetic involves hearing the Word of the Lord for your life—and then walking in faith, patience, preparation, and perseverance until that word is fulfilled. There’s an interesting example of this scenario found in the book of Esther.

Wicked Haman had devised a murderous plan to annihilate the entire Jewish nation. Through the courageous actions of Esther and her uncle Mordecai, the plot was foiled. However, what I find interesting is the fact that King Xerxes’ edict, “granting the Jews the right to assemble and protect themselves” was issued on “the twenty-third day of the third month”… yet the appointed day for this conflict wasn’t until, “the thirteenth day of the twelfth month” (over seven months later!).

If you think about it, in reality the entire situation changed the moment the king wrote that edict. But the Jews didn’t actually see the effect of that edict until many months later. The Jews had to “partner” with the King’s word. First of all, they had to believe the word. Then they had to exercise patience for that word to come to pass. Next they had to prepare for the conflict even though it was many months away. And eventually they had to persevere against their enemies in the day of battle. In the end, they had to partner with the king’s word to see it become their destiny.

And we must do the same. We are called to partner with the prophetic words the Holy Spirit gives us. We begin that partnership by pressing into our breakthrough and refusing to give up no matter what comes against us. Destiny is interwoven with breakthrough, and breakthrough will often precipitate destiny.

Here’s what the sequence looks like when it comes to partnering with the prophetic:
- God speaks to you.
- God confirms His Word.
- It takes root in your heart and becomes an unshakeable thing which is dear to you.
- You begin to speak about it, pray about it, and plan for it.
- It is repeatedly substantiated in different ways.
- The enemy comes for it (which in-and-of itself is further substantiation of its validity).
- You fight for it with faith, patience, preparation, and perseverance.
- In the fighting for it, your dream and destiny are refined and defined—and the roots grow deep into your heart and mind.
- With deep roots, your dream and destiny are free to begin to flourish and thrive.
- You step into it! You won’t be denied. You won’t be swayed. Fear of man and fear of failure cannot stop you. It is yours!
I’m not sure where you are along that journey—but be encouraged that God rewards tenacity. He’s seen you stand your ground when you have felt like giving up. He’s seen you stay obedient to His directives, even when they didn’t make sense to you. He’s seen you continue to press into your destiny and calling, even when others put you down or doubted your ability to rise to the top.

He’s seen you persevere through unfathomable difficulties and hardship with a smile on your face and worship on your lips. Be encouraged that God sees and God knows—and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Your new day is coming like the dawn! It’s going to be bright and beautiful, and it’s going to be worth each and every sacrifice you made along the way!

Paula Friedrichsen is an ordained minister who lives with her family in California. This article is an excerpt of her latest book, “A Season of Breakthrough: Four Strategies to Living a Life of Sustained Freedom”. To find out more about Paula’s ministry visit www.PFMinistries.com
Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: | No Comments
Waiting: When Life Falls Apart

April 4, 2013 by admin

[Guest Post by Jason Huffman] Waiting on God is one of those things in life that has lots of analogies and illustrations. Some are scriptural and some are not. “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength” as Isaiah wrote.

Or one I hear a lot is “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” This sounds nice on paper and sure makes for a nice magnet on your refrigerator, but how fun is waiting on God? I’ve often thought to myself “When God closes a door, He should pad the rest of the room because I may be in here a while!”

One such time in my life came in 2004. I had spent the previous five years doing youth and music ministry in a small Texas town while commuting back and forth one day a week to seminary classes in Ft. Worth, TX. It was the weekend before my last semester finals-about 10 days before graduation-when my wife went to her parents’ house and never came home.

After a few days I figured out she wasn’t coming back.

Already burnt out from five years of ministry and a rocky marriage, her departure was a catalyst for my decision to resign from ministry work and move back home to East Texas.

To put this in perspective, I was 27 years old, had just received my masters’ degree, and I was unemployed and moving in with my parents.

To say this season of my life was humbling would have been an understatement.

During the several months I was unemployed, I helped my dad with several ranch projects that required two workers, then I got a job selling insurance. It was a decent paycheck and believe it or not there were opportunities for me to do God’s will in this different setting.

You see, at the time, I didn’t know if I would ever do church work again. I already knew there were a number of Christian congregations who would never hire/allow a divorcee to be on their staff, let alone a pastor.

So I began to try to follow God where I was…to bloom where I was planted so to speak.

During this season of my life, I began teaching a Wednesday night Bible study as a volunteer at a church I was attending that didn’t have a youth minister. I also began to find ways to serve God through my insurance office.

Many people would come in needing to make a change in their auto or home policy but what they really needed was someone to talk to. They were suffering from a broken relationship, a car accident, or death in the family.

Needing a change on their insurance policy was an avenue God used to allow me to be a voice of peace and comfort in a difficult season of their lives.

It was two years from the time I moved home until the time I took another job in church work.

That was seven years ago, but that two years was a season of tremendous growth for me. The hardest part of waiting on God is fighting the temptation to be idle. Many times we have our hearts and minds set on a particular agenda and while we “wait”, we do nothing, when God is calling us to use this time to grow ourselves and bless others where we are.

Jason Huffman has been in youth ministry for thirteen years and has worked in both the Baptist and United Methodist Churches. He lives in East Texas with his wife, twelve year old daughter, and four month old son. You can read more of his writing on his blog.

Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: | No Comments
This Month’s Theme: Waiting on God

April 3, 2013 by admin

Throughout our lives we’re always waiting on something, aren’t we? Waiting for the right job or promotion; for a spouse or for children or for specific prayers to be answered.

Waiting…waiting…waiting.

My last post Taking the Long Way, about waiting on God, generated so much feedback that I realized waiting on God is a big topic that so many of us are currently experiencing and can relate to. It’s also a topic the majority of people in the Bible experienced. Like Sarah, Hannah, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus just to name a few.

So, I want to devote some more time to talking about that subject on this blog.

I decided to make “waiting on God” the theme here for the month of April and I asked some friends to send me their guest posts.

Starting tomorrow and continuing throughout the month we’ll get other people’s perspectives and stories on the topic of waiting.

I’ve already read some of the posts and they are fantastic! Very insightful and encouraging. I can’t wait to share them all with you! So, join with me this month as we talk about and process more of what it means to wait on God.

Category Encouragement, Waiting on God | Tags: , April Theme, Waiting on God | No Comments
Taking the Long Way

March 26, 2013 by admin

This week is Passover so I was just re-reading the story of the original Passover in Exodus, chapters 11-13. At the end of the last chapter I smiled as I read these verses:

“It so happened that after Pharaoh released the people, God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, “If the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt. So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea.” Exodus 13:17-18

After the final plague caused Pharoah to let the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt, God led them to the Red Sea. But on the way to the sea there were two different routes He could have chosen to take them. A shorter route and a longer route. To us, the shorter route always seems to be the most logical, doesn’t it? But God, in His wisdom, sent them the long way. It was for their own good but they didn’t know that at the time.

When the Road Seems Long
As it says in the verses above, the shorter route would have led the Israelites by the Philistines where there could have been a war. God knew that if that happened, the Israelites would, out of fear, run right back to slavery. That’s the exact opposite of what He wanted for them. So He decided to take them the longer way which was a safer route.

Have you ever felt like God was taking you the long way?

You feel like you’ve been waiting forever on a prophecy or promise to come to fruition. Or for freedom from a stronghold. Or for your prayers for another person to be answered. After a while it’s easy to start questioning God, wondering if He cares or if He’s even listening to you. But…

When You’re in the Wilderness Just Keep Trusting God
In the Bible the wilderness is usually a place of testing and refinement. Christians often refer to their own “wilderness experiences” as times when they wondered if God really still cared or existed. We read that the Israelites:

“…moved on from Succoth and then camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness. God went ahead of them in a Pillar of Cloud during the day to guide them on the way, and at night in a Pillar of Fire to give them light; thus they could travel both day and night. The Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night never left the people.” Exodus 13:20-22

Whether you are on the edge of the wilderness or right in the middle of the high brush…or if you’re on the longer route rather than the straight shot to deliverance…remember that God is with you. He’s leading you. He’s watching over you. He’s protecting you. He’s doing miracles in your midst. Whether you feel Him there or not. When you see Him and when your sight fails you. He’s there.

If He’s taking you the long way He’s doing it out of wisdom, not to torment you.

Maybe there is danger in the shorter route, or you just need the extra time on the road to understand what He’s teaching you or for Him to prepare you for what He’s leading you into. But He’s there…so just keep going. Because He’s trustworthy. His character precedes Him.

And at the right time He’s going to split that Sea and walk you through on dry ground to the promised land. He will. Guaranteed. You just do your part and follow the Pillar of Cloud. And trust Him in the leading.

Category Devotionals, Encouragement | Tags: , 10 plagues, exodus, Passover, Pharoah, Taking the Long way, trust God | 2 Comments

Older Entries