There Is Purpose In The Waiting

No one likes to wait for what they want because we all desire instant gratification. We have big dreams that we want to accomplish and relationships that we would love to have, but there is purpose in the waiting.

Patience was never my thing. Whenever I had something that I wanted, I would go after it with no hesitation, leaving no room to wait.

I've always seen the waiting season as a waste of time. There have been times when God has told me to wait but I've always told God, "Why wait when you can give it to me now?"

But God has shown me that the waiting season is a crucial part of our journey to reach God's destination for us.

Our waiting season is part of God's process to prepare us for His great plans.

We can't be who God wants us to be without the waiting process. It's through our waiting that we learn to stand strong in God and grow our faith in him alone.

It's tempting to take things into our own hands when we're suffering, but we must stay faithful to what God has asked us to do. When we stay faithful in the things that God has asked us to do, he will stay faithful to fulfill his promise to us. 

Everyone that God used in the Bible had a waiting season before God's promise to them was given. God gave Joseph a dream that he would be the leader of Egypt, but that didn't happen right away. Joseph had to go through much suffering and waiting before God's promise came to pass.

Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers and later thrown in prison for doing nothing wrong. But because Joseph stayed faithful to God and did what was right before God's eyes, God honored his promise to Joseph and made him ruler over Egypt under Pharoah. Joseph could have easily fallen into temptation, but he says in Genesis 39:9, "..how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

David is another example in the Bible who had to go through suffering during his waiting season. God promised David that he would be king over Israel, but that didn't happen right away. David spent many years running away from King Saul who was trying to kill him. David had many opportunities to kill King Saul, but he always chose to do what was right before God. David tells King Saul in 1 Samuel 24:6, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord."

Both David and Joseph could have taken things into their own hands, yet they chose to stay faithful to God and to trust in him. Through their waiting season, they learned to be obedient to God and to hold on to his promises.

While the waiting season may seem like a wasteful time in our lives, it is one of the most crucial moments in our lives. What we do in our waiting season will determine the outcome of our lives. We have the choice to take steps towards God's promises or steps away from his promises.

If Joseph and David had given up in their waiting seasons, they would never have lived to see God's promise fulfilled in their lives.

God has promises for your life that he wants to fulfill - will you press on and stay faithful to God? Will you be like David and Joseph and trust God in your waiting season? 

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Don't let your waiting season wear you out. God has a purpose in your waiting. Stay faithful to God and trust that his promise for you is coming. God promises we will reap his blessings if we don't give up.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "..And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.." The only way to go through our waiting season without giving up is to fix our eyes on Jesus. We will only find our faith increasing when our hope is in Jesus alone. Jesus will never let us down and he is the hope we need to press forward.

God has plans for your life beyond what you can see or imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9). Your waiting season is the bridge to connect you to God's beautiful plan for your life. So remember, there is purpose in the waiting.

Why Obedience Is Necessary

We all know obedience is a good for all aspects of life; school, work, family, and our walk with God. But obedience is not always easy. Obedience will almost always ask us to do the very thing we don't want to do. Yet, obedience is necessary.

What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word obedience? 

For me, it's not fun.

I cringe at the word obedience because I know obedience isn't easy. It has never been easy and still isn't easy now.

God has asked me to let go of many things in life that I so dearly cherished. I struggled with obedience, but there are 3 things that have helped me persevere in obedience to God:

God is good. God is faithful. God knows better.

The only way for us to arrive at God's destination and to receive his blessings is through obeying him.

God will never ask us to do anything that isn't for our good. He loves us and only wants the best for us. He wants us to be blessed, but God's blessings only come through obedience to his will in our lives.

James 1:16-17 says, "Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.." James warns us to not be deceived because many times we tell ourselves that we can gain God's perfect blessings through doing things our way, and not his way. We believe the enemies lies that we don't have to obey God to get where God wants us to be. But the truth is, there's only one way to see God's plans for our lives happen and it is through obeying him.

How can we see God's plans come to life if we aren't willing to follow his plans? 

James 1:25 says, "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." God wants to bless us, but we must commit our lives to following his perfect will in our lives.

Trust that God is faithful and knows what we need. Before we were even born, God already made good plans for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God knows his plans for you - will you believe that? Will you take the step of obedience and faith, trusting that God knows what is best for you? 

There have been many times in my life when I thought I knew what was best for me, but following God only proved to me that he knows better. Following God has never created regrets in my life. The only regrets I have in my life are the choices I made myself, but never God's.

If you love God, you will obey him. God promises to those who love him that he will prepare amazing plans for their lives that no one can even imagine. 1 Corinthians 2:9 is God's promise to us which says, "“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -the things God has prepared for those who love him—"

God loves you and will always be there with open arms to receive you no matter what you've done. He's given you his perfect son Jesus to forgive your sins when you surrender your life to him and obey him. Obedience might seem dreadful, but it's only through obedience that you can experience the best that God has for you. So remember, obedience is necessary.

Fear or Faith?

We all have fears. Your fear might be losing what you most love or not making it through your career successfully. The list of our fears can go on and on, but we have the choice whether we are going to believe in our fears or not. Will you choose fear or faith? 

My fear is loneliness.

I've held on to relationships in the past just to be able to have someone alleviate that fear. I thought being in a relationship would cure my fears of loneliness, but what I found is once I lost that relationship, my fear of loneliness came back.

I couldn't understand why God was calling me to singleness, but now I know why. He wants to set me free. Free from bondage. Free from fear.

Just as God wants to set me free, he also wants to set you free. Whatever your fears may be, God wants to set you free into the freedom that is found in Jesus.

There is no assurance that our fears are true, but we do have the assurance that God's promises are always true. We can hold on to God's promises knowing they will come to pass if we surrender our lives and follow him.

Let go of fear and hold on to faith. 

The disciples of Jesus also had to learn to have faith in Jesus over their fears. In Matthew 8, we see the disciples in a boat with Jesus during a furious storm. The disciples saw the harsh waves hitting the boat and started to be afraid. In fear, they woke up Jesus. Jesus's response to the disciples in Matthew 8:26 was,"'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." 

How many times have we been afraid of our own storms just as the disciples were, despite knowing Jesus was still with us? 

No matter what we are facing, we do not need to be afraid because Jesus is walking the journey with us. Just as Jesus was able to calm the storms for the disciples, he will also calm our storms in his perfect time. 

Psalm 23:4 says, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." God promises he is always with us even in our darkest valleys. He will be with us to comfort us whenever we need it.

We must proclaim God's word and promises over our fears. The only way to cure our fears is to let it go and face it with faith in God. God wants to set us free, but that will require us to face the fears that are keeping us in bondage. 

Our fears will always hold us in hostage unless we overcome them. Romans 8:37 promises us that "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." If we will understand how vast God's love for us is, we will have the hope that God is only working for our good. 

If God's love for us is truly unfailing, will he really lead us to a place that will only harm us? Psalm 35:5 says, "Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds." Nothing can stop God from loving you. He is always faithful and that is what we should believe in. Believe in God's faithfulness and let go of your fears and doubts. 

What fears are preventing you from walking into God's freedom? What's holding you back from living a life full of joy?

Wherever God is taking you, trust that he is faithful and is only taking you to the best place to grow your faith in him. 

It's comfortable to stay in our comfort zone, but it is outside our comfort zone that our faith in God will be strengthed. Don't allow your fears to keep you living a life bound in chains. The last thing you want to do is to allow fear to drive your actions because fear will only lead you to do the very thing you never wanted to do.

Hold on to God's promises and let your hope in him sustain you. God wants to show you the power of his mighty hands, and that can only be done through facing our fears. So remember, choose faith over fear.

Joy Is Attainable

When we're going through the hardest times of our lives, the one thing we want is to have joy - to be able to rejoice and be happy. Yet when we're faced with our darkest moments, joy can seem too far away for us to grasp. However, with God joy is attainable.

Many times we look for joy through our circumstances or people, but that's the very reason why we find it hard to have joy. Joy becomes unattainable when we rely on it from others or our circumstances because people will fail us and life is not always perfect.

Life will have its ups and downs, but that shouldn't determine whether or not we have joy. Joy doesn't come from our circumstances, but from God alone.

Joy will always fill our hearts when we look for it in God. 

God himself clothes us with his joy. The enemy can only steal our joy if we let him. Psalm 30:11 says, "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy." 

God has the ability to take away our mourning and replace it with a spirit of joy and dancing. No matter how bad your circumstances may be, you can always have God's joy in you. While joy may seem impossible to attain during your darkest storms, it is possible with God. 

Don't let your circumstances tell you that you can't go through your storms without joy. 

Joy is attainable anytime and anywhere with God. 

Our joy can never be taken away from us because God will never fail us. God's promises hold true, and when we are living in his will, we can be sure that he will use our struggles for His glory and our good. 

Psalm 89:33 is God's promise to you, which says, "I will not take my love away, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness." God's love for you will never fail and he is always faithful - rest in his promises and you will always find his never-ending joy. 

God's plan is for you is to have a life full of joy and not sorrow. Although you will go through seasons of hardships and struggles, you can rest knowing that God's plan for you is good even when things look bad. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Seek God's presence in the midst of your struggles and you will find yourself filled with his joy. God's presence always follows with his joy. So remember, joy is attainable.