Waiting and patience. These are two areas where God is still working with me. You would think I’d have it by now. It’s not like I haven’t experienced multiple situations in my life that have proven time and time again that His timing is better than mine.
Isaiah 55:9 (NLT) says: “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” I should know that His ways are better than my ways.
Job 23:9 (NKJV) says: “When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.” I should know that when I don’t see Him working that He is indeed working.
Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) says: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I should know that I am supposed to believe those things that are not seen. I should know to trust God.
Don’t look at me like that. You haven’t ever been given a promise by God that you knew without a doubt that He was capable of bringing it to fruition? But..He hasn’t. You haven’t ever seen your friends and colleagues realizing their God-given promise and not wondered when it would be your time, even though you earnestly celebrate what He’s doing “over there”? I’m just keeping it 100 right now. I know all the lyrics to “Man of Your Word” and I sing along at the top of my lungs and envision myself in Maverick City Music with hands outstretched to the heavens when we hit,
We have this confidence
You’ll finish what You started
God, You have never failed
You won’t start with me
You’re present in every step
Patient in every heartache
God, You have never failed
You won’t start with me
I KNOW all this and yet sometimes my faith fails me. Why is that? When I was talking to God before I went to sleep last night, He said to read Isaiah 40:31. I was like again with Isaiah 40:31 God? I don’t have to read it, I know it. The NLT version says: “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” The KNJV says: “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.” There it is…trust in the Lord and wait on the Lord. But God, I said, I do trust you. And He said, then wait on me. Ouch! God said when I give you a promise, I’m good for it. But there are some things you have to do. You want to soar high like eagles. You want to run and not grow weary. You want to walk and not faint. But you won’t wait. Dang it!
The name of this blog is Really Rita for a reason. This is how God and I go at it. My sister-friend and awesome woman of prayer Latarsha calls it wrestling with God when she and God go back and forth. I don’t challenge God because I don’t trust God, I question because I want to get it right. His version of right. So sometimes, it gets real real with me and God and I imagine Him raising an eyebrow and saying really Rita…this is what we’re doing today? I invite Him to correct my faulty thinking and He does through a variety of ways. Sometimes through meditation, a sermon, or a Christian friend.
Another sister-friend and incredible Christian mindset coach, Erin Marie, also known as BWFWoman, reminds me all the time of Romans 12:2 (NIV): “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” My thoughts determine my actions and my actions determine my direction and my direction determines my outcome. Clearly, I have some thoughts that need correction in the area of waiting and patience.
I asked God why is it that waiting and patience are so heavy for me. He said very simply “because you are carrying weight, weights that are keeping you from being able to wait well.” Whew, Lord! Break it down for me. Let’s go back to the Isaiah 40:31 scripture. Why is it that eagles can soar? Why is it that runners can run and not grow weary? Why is it that walkers can walk and not grow faint? They are not carrying unnecessary weight.
On my meditation walk this morning I asked God to show me what weight I needed to lose to be light on my feet so that I can trust and wait better. Fear is a weight. Doubt is a weight. Worry is a weight. Anxiousness is a weight. Inconsistency is a weight. Lord knows I love God with everything in me. But in order to realize real trust in Him, the weight has to go.
Let us pray…
God thank you for being a Man of Your Word. Thank you for your consistency and your omnipotence. Thank you for timing out every promise you have for me. God help me to fix my gaze on you. Let all the weights that pull me in any direction other than toward you fall off me today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Amen, What a word!! Thanks for sharing and being “real” because most of us have those same thoughts.