Rewards of Waiting

We've all experienced times of waiting ... in line at the market, in the dentist's office, commute traffic, or at the bank. Our opportunities to wait only seem to increase with our busy calendars. While there we generally have nothing to do but wait unless we think ahead to bring something to do. In God's kingdom, though, waiting is defined as "active stillness" ... active because we are continuing in our present situation, and still because we are focusing our attention on the Lord for His guidance. Practicing a lifestyle of active stillness requires a purposeful, expectant attitude, a patient and determined stare of mind, and a prayerful, obedient heart.

There are rewards for us for waiting on the Lord. One is the acceptance of the supernatural energy and strength we need for godly living. When we let responsibilities over burden us at times, we might easily get out of step with God. Even though we know He has called us to a steady pace, it's so easy to begin lagging behind. At other times, our busy schedules are so hectic there's little time for us to even think. So we make snap decisions and end up pushing ahead of Him. In either extreme, we run the risk of becoming weary and emotionally spent because we are continuing on in our own strength. Patiently waiting on God will bring us the physical energy and emotional reserves we need to press on.

Two more benefits of waiting on God are discovering God's will, which is always for our own good (Rom 8:28), and gaining spiritual victory in the midst of life's trials or disappointments.

Our all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere-present God is always right on time. He has perfect timing for everything. It is we who leave too early or arrive too late. Pick a situation that you are prone to overrule God's perfect timing, then submit it to Him, realizing it's a matter of trust.

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Well it is snowing here in San Andreas. Actually I guess it's just about stopped snowing to be absolutely correct. I was busy with my email messages a little while ago not paying any attention and then Michael told me it was snowing. I turned and looked out the window and he was absolutely right. And of course I had to get up and go outside and stand in the snow for awhile. I guess it's the little kid in us that makes us have to go out and be in things like that. Like when we get a cloudburst and we just have to step out onto the deck and experience the wind and rain first hand for ourselves. Did that Sunday while J, my granddaughter, was here. We had a couple cracks of very loud thunder and then the downpour hit. And, yes, I had to go outside then too. Weather is fun; I love it!

My Bible study went well. I was so nervous about it Sunday night that I became physically ill. Not fun. We also had the horror of not being able to find Michael's Bible. I knew I had had it last and I looked everywhere for it and just couldn't find it. Michael planned to go with me to the study and he needed his Bible. I got so frustrated trying to find it that it just added to my problem. I pulled out another Bible that he could use and I even marked the places in it for him so he'd be able to find the verses we would be looking up. But yesterday morning just before we had to leave I remembered where it might be and sure enough, it was there. So all was well with the Bibles. And Michael didn't have to go with a different Bible. You know, we all tend to be rather possessive with our Bibles and he is no exception. He was frantically looking for it too. But we found it and he got to take his own Bible to small group. Anyway, the Lord was faithful and He carried me through the study. Once I got over my original nervousness, it just seemed to flow and I had excellent participation from the group which was really nice. There are few things worse than asking a question and finding no one willing to open up and answer it. We had lots of time to sit and discuss the different points and everyone seemed to get something out of the study to take home with them.

Next Monday may be the real test though as 2Peter gets a little weird about not slandering celestial beings. If I can just come up with one point they can take home with them I will be happy. And I just want to add that God is so faithful. I had made Monday's study a firm matter of prayer and He was faithful and got me through it. Next week is my turn to bring refreshments. I thought I would probably take a berry cobbler. I love boysenberries (I don't think that's spelled correctly, forgive me if it isn't) but I doubt our little store down here would have them so I may have to use blackberries, I can always go with peaches if I have to. But I like berry best. Anyway, suffice it to say I was really pleased with the way everything turned out with the study. We all just sat around Evelyn's huge table in the eating area where there was terrific light and discussed things. I had us all go around the table reading a few verses until we had read the entire book of 2Peter when it just hit me. Here we were, close to 2000 years after Peter penned his letter, sitting around in a believer's house reading Peter's letter, just as the first century readers would have done. That was a very powerful connection for me yesterday. It almost brought tears to my eyes it touched me so deeply. I hope they too felt the connection with our brothers and sisters of old. Now I just have to work on next week's lesson plan. I think we will probably just "discuss" our way through the verses but I still need to prayerfully go over the verses and see what the Lord will teach me that I can pass on to everyone else. I don't think I will be nervous next week. Or at least I pray I won't. The first time was scary though, I have to admit it, I was really nervous when I first started. And I had no reason to be nervous. I just acknowledged to everyone that I was nervous but had no reason to be because we're all friends and no one was going to stone me for saying the wrong thing. When I called Peter Paul Evelyn just sort of quietly corrected me and it went so well. Anytime I'm leading a group I hope everyone will feel relaxed and confident enough to correct me when I make an error. It's so easy to mix up names and things. In my mind I said Peter, but my mouth said Paul. We all do that occasionally. And that doesn't really bother me at all. I've warned everyone that next week will rest heavily on discussions of the verses so they need to be prepared. I said that before I saw what a great group they are at becoming involved with the study. If they are no better about commenting next week than they were yesterday, it will be absolutely perfect. They were a great group.

I guess I'll let this be it for today. I have lots of things that need to be done around the house and it's none too soon to work on that lesson plan. And I don't even have my morning chores done so I will be back with you tomorrow. I've got two more blogs written and so Friday will be the day of decision. Part of me wants to take a break and sort of catch my breath since I have so many irons in the fire right now, but at the same time part of me is eager to get onto something new. I will probably take a few days off, a week or two, and then get back to writing my blog. I think it would do me good to have more time for other things. Just a short sabbatical to sort of recharge my batteries. Whatever I decide I think it will be interesting to stay on the same subject for a period of time. I've been doing something new everyday now for a good six months and I think just staying on the same subject until I've exhausted it might be fun. At least that's what I'm hoping for. So you'll kind of need to check in every day to see the progression of ideas. That may prove to be a deathblow to my changed blog. I don't know how well it will work if someone misses a couple days. The way I've been doing it for so long now is that each day will stand on its own so you don't ever really get behind if you miss a day or two. With the changes I'm going to make, I may find out it just isn't going to work that way in a blog format. I'll just have to see how it goes. And there's nothing that says I can't go back if I see that the changes aren't working. I'll just go back to a daily blog format like I've been doing. Well, enough thinking here. I'll let you know what's going to happen as soon as I know. Until tomorrow ...