How are you at WAITING?!?!

I really feel like there are alot of us in a season right now where we ALL could use what I learned last night! So my prayer is that God will allow it to be typed out in such a powerful way, so that it will hit you as hard as it hit me last night! God is so good and so sovereign!

I have been studying Esther through Beth Moore's study...so this "little devotion" is directly from her video last night! We were learning about Esther and why she "waited" to present her request to the King...The King had asked multiple times to present her request...and her response was that they come together TOMORROW...and she would make her request known...

WAITING...who of us is ever willing to WAIT! UGH... it makes me nervous even typing it! Our culture is definitely teaching us to be impatient...all of the latest and greatest technology says to us "take the wait out" We even get frustrated even when it takes our computer 2 minutes to boot up! We are all about INSTANT GRATIFICATION!!

I think that we would all agree that we are all in a season where we want things to happen now...someone needs a job NOW , a house to sell NOW, a baby to hurry and get here NOW, that insurance would be approved NOW, (for Ray and I) that God would tell us NOW where he wants us to move, and where Brenly will go to school (not that she doesn't start for 6 more months, but I want to KNOW NOW!!), for our marriages to get better and stronger NOW, that our jobs would be secure NOW, that we will have money to pay our bills NOW, that we would have extra time to spend with the ones we love the most NOW, that our savings account would automatically grow NOW...

I don't get it...in Isiah 40:31
31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I will be completely honest when I say that the LAST thing I feel when I am WAITING for some"thing" is renewed strength...

WHY? Because we wait on the "thing" and not the LORD!!!

Our strength will continue to be LOST when we wait on the "thing" or the "event"...but when we WAIT on the Lord...WOW, how different we would view our waiting!

Habakkuk 2:3
"For the revelation awaits an appointed time, it speaks to the end and will prove false. Though it linger, WAIT for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." God gave habakkuk the same answer that he would give us, "Be patient! I will work out MY plan in perfect timing"

If we cannot wait on the Lord, we will not complete OUR destiny!

We must understand that "in the meantime" is GOD-TIME! NEVER in our wait is God INACTIVE!!

I just thought that this was so powerful! As I was driving in this morning I was thinking about our life in particular...and how we prayed for Ray to get his "dreamjob" for 6 years...count them people... S-I-X...1,2,3,4,5,6! We just knew that after he got this job that life would be perfect, he would be happy, we would be making a little bit more money, we could get our of memphis...it would just be perfect...Well, if you have talked to me at all since Ray got this job, you will fully understand that our life is everything BUT PERFECT...if nothing else, it has become 75% more complicated! I drive all over God's creation, spending the little extra that He IS making on gas, we have moved out of Memphis to the BOONDOCKS and although we love it...we are still "in the Boondocks", schools are terrible, I miss being able to hop in the car and go visit friends or family, etc...you get the picture! Don't get me wrong, we are EXTREMELY GRATEFUL that God answered our prayers! It has been a wonderful experience, but far from perfect and peaceful! I think for so many of those 6 years, we WAITED on the event (Ray getting the job) as well as the OUR IDEA about how it all would turn out! Instead, we should have had our eyes fixed on HIM, WAITING ON THE LORD...never allowing our minds to wonder and imagine how great life would be (we were sadly mistaken...b/c we had allowed ourselves to think that the EVENT would solve all of our problems)...but focusing on the GREATNESS of our GOD and how HE can renew our strength! Our wait or our idea of perfect will never be that until we learn to WAIT ON THE LORD...

I wish that I could solve all of the world's problems, but that isn't my job! I will just pray that all of us will WAIT on the LORD!!! I think it will cause our period of waiting to less stressful and anxious!!

and we have to remember the longer the wait on the Lord, the more our strength is renewed and the greater our reward!!

As I drove in this morning...I intentionally turned down my radio...to pray through what I wanted to write here, praying for individuals who are struggling through "waiting", praying for myself that I will learn to "wait on the Lord" (obviously still need to pray about that :) so finally right before I got off the interstate, I decided that i needed to turn up the radio and worship alittle and will you believe that the song that was playing was...

Lincoln Brewster - Everlasting God
From the album Let The Praises Ring - Best Of Lincoln Brewster
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
Wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
Wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Our God You reign forever
Our Hope our strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
The everlasting God

The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 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.

I sat in my car, with tears rolling down my face...the fact that I intentionally turned down my radio to meet with the Lord, to wait before Him...and to "reward" me with such affirmation as the song Everlasting God...I mean the END of the song is what my prayer is for my life at this moment!
God is sooooo good and faithful...if ONLY we would allow Him to show up and make Himself KNOWN!