The Reward in the Waiting

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew thy strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."
 Is. 40:31

Patience has become a lost art for many people, including myself depending on what I'm being called to be patient with.  Whether with people or situations, I am not always successful in depicting this virtue and taking the time to wait.

I call it being spoiled in my inability to exhibit patience.  We do have an instant society, for sure; but it is in the bountiful blessings-at least for me, that lies in the foundations of my resistance to waiting.  I admittedly have taken my God for granted far too many times, just believing I'm going to get my wants and needs exactly when I want and need it.  Then, I sometimes take it to another level and begin to become frustrated at the pace or lack thereof of the things or people I'm looking for.  I don't know about you, but sometimes, these frustrations take on a dramatic form of an unpleasant nature that really is down right ugly! 

There are other reasons though, that make waiting so tenuous for people.  Many of us do not like the tension; the un-comfortability it creates in us, particularly when we don't know what the end result will be.  We sometimes believe that certain things we shouldn't have to wait for, and for somethings like basic civil rights that is true.  And yet, we who are African Americans and other peoples of color are marginalized and treated differently here in the 21st century!  As an African American woman, I could ask 'How much longer do I have to wait?'

However, even in such important human rights matters, there is a reward in the waiting!  I have recently been in a season of waiting in several areas of my life and I cannot pretend that it was anything less than torturous!  Yet, when I stopped fighting the waiting, when I let go of control of the process that I hadn't even realized I was in the midst of, then I received many rewards--even without an apparent outcome in the midst of waiting.  

When I stopped fighting the waiting, I discovered some things about myself.  Beside being more controlling than I actually thought I was, I received the reward of surrender.  I had no alternative but to surrender my all: concerns, cares, anxieties and hopes to the Lord.  When I did, I was scared, but I got permission; I got room to rest in God's presence and care.  It is difficult for someone like myself, as a believer and as a minister to admit that I wasn't wholly surrendered to God, because I still held on to parts of my life that I felt that only I could handle properly.  This was ignorant, but admit it or not, we all have those tendencies.
Another reward in the waiting was the sweetness of depending on God.  Many of us are leaders in some way shape or form, but who doesn't like it when you have an assurance that someone greater than ourselves; who actually loves us will take the lead in your concerns and we can be confident that everything will be okay-no matter what the outcome?

So today, as I am still in that same period of waiting I mentioned earlier, am I any less impatient?  Sometimes; I find I that I do make more attempts to invoke patience in myself instead of allowing frustrations to grow.  But, I am now conscious to what God has for me in the space between expectation and outcome.  God is rich in rewards in the waiting!

A New Way to Plan for the New Year

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2nd Chronicles 7:14 NIV

As another year in the life came to a close for me, I like maybe countless others found myself reflecting on what was in the year 2014.  And like years past, it was a year like no other; it contained its share of good times, bad times, surprises, and losses.  Yes, these sort of events can be expected every year God allows us to continue to take breath, but it's the particulars of these events that make our lives interesting.

It was an exciting year for me as I've not known before!  It wasn't all just exciting in having a multitude of blessings come my way, though they did.  It was exciting in the not so great times as well.  I made wonderful discoveries that made me smile, but I also made shocking discoveries about myself that I wouldn't necessarily brag about in a public forum.  Yet, still exciting were these discoveries because I was blessed to experience first hand God's presence and movement in those not so joyous occasions.  Don't get me wrong, God has answered many a prayer in my life, but during a crisis of faith, God showed up and answered IMMEDIATELY!  It was what I needed at that time.

As I looked onto the sunrise of 2015, I was reminded to give reverence to whom reverence is due, to truly give in to renewal by understanding that I could not start anew without seeking the face of the One who would ensure that I would actually see 2015.

We are often cavalier about our hopes, plans, and dreams for each in-coming new year, but consider this, is it wise to shut out our Creator, when we have no real guarantee that we'll see it?  Who are we to enter in even another day without humbling ourselves and pray to the Author and Finisher of our faith for guidance on those very hopes, dreams, and desires? I can attest that God has shown me in my life that I need to be in open communication with Him every step of the way.  After all, God knows the future, He knows my future-why would I not humbly come before Him?  

Part of coming to God, is to come before Him in a humble manner; recognizing that on our own we are thoroughly unworthy.  Our first desire should be to repent, to seek God for forgiveness.  If we confess our sins to God, He can ALWAYS be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.  It's in the Word!  We ought not take this powerful promise lightly; if your life is feeling stagnant you may be in need of divine forgiveness!  

God promised that when we come correctly to Him in humility and repentance, God will be listening,  and we get forgiveness and healing!

It is an incredible feeling to know that God is listening; it's more than a hope, it's a guarantee!  It is an opportunity to have an intimate moment for renewal, restoration, and healing!  I don't know about you, but what better way to start the new year with each new day, than to humble ourselves, and seek the face of the God who holds our future!

Blessings!

Staying Connected

"Stay joined to Me and I will stay joined to you..." John 15:4 (CEV)

What lengths do we go to find or make connections?  It is common practice for many to reside on social media sites all day to watch for the activity of their friends, comment on that activity, and make what seems up to the minute reports of their own activity.

It is quietly understood that one may have a thousand plus 'friends' on their site, but actually know one-third of that number, and there is an even smaller percentage of that number that one actually speaks to or sees on a regular basis.  We [yes, even you!] take pride in having all of these 'friends'; it's an esteem builder to have 'followers', people responding to your every move!  Technology has done wonders for finding people we have lost touch with, and the ability to share information in a more expeditious manner.

Technology has also done wonders in a not so positive way as well.  It has come to dissuade people from talking face to face, has reduced our feelings down to emoticons and the description of those feelings to abbreviated words that fit in a space of 140 characters or less.

I find it sad that so many of us have lost the art of simple conversation and believe texting is a sufficient means of communicating one's deepest thoughts and feelings.

Can you imagine your significant other robbing you of the the sweetest opportunity of telling you he/she loves you for the first time, by saying it via text or tweet?

Can you imagine trying to get into heaven, and receiving a text from God saying, 'u suck- u need 2 repent b 4 u can b here!"  Jesus said that He was the true vine and that we are the branches.  If we stay joined to Him, our lives will produce much fruit. Without Jesus, we produce nothing of value and definitely nothing that lasts!  Relationship is key to staying connected! It's about spending time, talking, listening, getting to know Jesus!  How we relate to Jesus, our primary relationship, should be the model on how we relate to and treat others in our relationships.  And last I heard, no one has yet to be able to text Jesus!

This is the world we abide in; a world with ways, some of our own choosing, others not.  But we can control how we stay connected to each other.  So, perhaps to the majority of your 'friends' you can say 'what's up' or 'poke' on FB.  And there may be yet another hierarcical layer that will get bestowed the pleasure of a letter via email, and if you're considered to be all that, you'll get the text from their personal cell phone.

 But my hope is, that you and I will be considered 'so special,' by people we consider 'so special,' and our connections so meaningful, that we would receive telephone calls, lunch dates, dinner dates and any sort of face-to-face interaction to show one another how much we mean to one another!  It's about staying connected!

ALL OF MY HELP....

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2 ESV

Help:  to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist; to save; rescue; to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate; to be useful or profitable to.

Absolutely all of these phrases describe the God I serve.  God is omniscient, omnipotent, He is the Beginning and will be the End!  But, God also is love! [1 Jn. 4:8]  And because He is love, I know when no one else can love me-not even myself-God loves me!

I think it is an accurate statement that we will one day find ourselves in a situation or circumstance where we feel totally helpless.  A day when even the wonderful people God has sent into our lives, can only do so much to help us.  A day when there are no words that can make it better, no tender touch, no amount of money that can fix a pain or a hurt so deep.

It is in that hour and in that space, in the midst of our mess that we literally look up to where our one and only hope and help comes from!  It is only to our Creator that we can look to because He is the sole designer of not only our existence, but the whole world!  

When nothing else can help, I know all of my help, come from the Lord!

Let God Be God!

"And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.'  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." Ex. 14:13-14 (ESV)

We sometimes say that life is a struggle, or that we have to fight for what we want in this life.  And you know what, I will be the first to say that I struggled and fought to accomplish my goals!  But after a while, I discovered that I was tired!  

I believe that if we are not in touch with our Father, we lose sight of what we should be fighting and struggling for.  In fact, I would bet that we have fought for things that were not in God's will for us!

We find in God's word, God doesn't have a problem fighting and standing up for us against those that will oppose us and even for those things that are in His will for us.  Maybe it's time to let God be God and don't fear!  All we need do is what He instructs us to do in His word and see the salvation of the LORD!

The Journey

We are supposed to keep our eyes on road and stay alert while on the highway, but do you ever find yourself daydreaming just a bit? I'll admit that while driving I look at the road ahead of me and consider the 'journey.' 


What journey? My personal journey. Remember the song from the movie Mahogany? "Do you know where you going to, do you like the things that life is showing you? Do you know?" These are the sort of questions I ask myself about my life. 


 My life's journey has been exciting; its had some twists and unexpected turns. The bible says that "Man's steps are ordered by the Lord." I love that God has a grand design for our lives, I don't love that with God's gracious gift of free will, I step out of His will for my life and end up sinning. We need to give God the glory for watching over us and preparing a Plan B for us when we veer off of His original plan along this journey called life. I think the key at this present time is to look at that stretch of road ahead and ask God, "Which way Lord?" and let Him direct our path!


Blessings!




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Location:Bordentown,United States

Assessing Your Reality

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!"  John 8:32


Here's my reality: I am not in a job I love, I can stand to lose a few more pounds, I have a hard time planning for fun things or otherwise because on any given day I'm not sure how my body is going to feel and there are other things; good and bad that are a part of my reality.


What about you?  When was the last time you took an assessment of your present reality?  Now perhaps you feel that you are more than aware of what's going on in your world, but are you really?


Think about all the things in our lives and about ourselves that might need adjusting or to be totally changed that we turn a blind eye to?  


I know that if given the chance, I would do some things differently.  But the reality is, the past is past!  What we once were or did; how we may have once lived may not be how things are now because life's circumstances are always changing! 


So, stop deluding yourself!  Things are the way they are!  Assess your reality-truthfully and reposition your life to what you want it to be!  We all have the potential to be better than we ever were before!


But you cannot operate in fantasy!  Stop pretending to be something that you're not or that you and your situation haven't changed!  Not all change is bad.  And even if the present change is not positive, assess what you can do to fix it!


Blessings!