Sometimes It's Wise to Wait

Timing is crucial in most aspects of life such as business, relationships, sports, and science. In order to keep in step with the Lord (Gal 5:25) we need to carry out His will for our lives according to His timetable, not ours.

In God's kingdom, waiting simply means seeking further directions from Him while remaining in our present circumstances. It encompasses an attitude of expectancy ... "God, what do You want me to do?" .. as well as an attitude of readiness ... " God, I'm willing to do as You say." It represents our wisest course of action because we will:

Receive direction. Too often we make our decisions based on the wrong things, like the influence of friends or the customs of the culture. But God is the only source of true wisdom. He knows all things and answers our prayers according to His complete understanding on the matters. He is willing to give us clear direction for any decision we are trying to make, large or small. He desires the very best for us in our personal lives, regardless whether the issue is on marriage, schooling, business, or relationships. (Ps 32:8).

We must get onto His timetable. God will also use this time of waiting to bring us in line with His perfect timing. To others it may appear that we are stalling and delaying unnecessarily. However, knowing that we are walking in concert with God will bring His peace to our hearts.

Be prepared for His answer and course of action. God may sometimes use a season of waiting to help us recognize ungodly motives and areas of sin in our lives, and to strengthen our faith.

Acting wisely begins with hearing from God. When was the last time you waited to receive direction from Him?

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It is really stormy here today. Rain and strong winds tossing trees back and forth like toothpicks. Reminds me of when we lived up in the higher mountains where snow was common for the winter months and the wind would whip those pine trees around so severely I was terrified they were going to fall on the house. One night in particular the wind was so strong I couldn't go to sleep. I guess I wanted to be awake when the tree came crashing through the roof. I mean, it's not like I could do anything to keep the tree from hitting the house if that should happen. But the wind was just howling through the trees. Much like today but stronger. I thought I better get my blog written before it gets so bad out there that I need to turn off my computer. I love storms, don't you? I love the power ... God's power ... displayed in the wind and the rain. I always have the strongest urge to get my coat on and go walking in the storm. I have a tad too much sense to do that but it's still something I'd love to do.

Poor Michael. He has to drive across the river in this mess for a doctor appointment. Hope everything works out okay for him. He really doesn't like driving in bad weather. If I didn't have other pressing things to do, I'd offer to drive him. But, then, that might be worse for him the way he complains about my driving. Like he does so much better! That's one area that gets my dander up. His criticism of my driving. I mean, I'm obviously the better driver, hehehe! Even if he doesn't like my driving the least he could do is sit there and be quiet. He doesn't have to comment every single time I drive. It's like I can't please him no matter how I drive the car. It's frustrating to say the least!

I'm anticipating a power outage this afternoon in all this wind and so I plan to just turn off my computer when I'm finished here and leave it off all day. We had snow yesterday morning. I'm sure I mentioned that in yesterday's blog (I can't go back and check it 'cause I don't know how to do that and not lose what I have on the screen so if I've repeated myself I apologize.) It didn't last long and was only up on Hogback but I'm sure it turned to snow even down at this elevation, just didn't stick or build up. It would have been fun to watch it snow though. I do miss that since we moved off the mountain. I don't miss the shoveling and the slipping and sliding. But I do miss watching it snow. It's such a beautiful thing. All those white flakes floating down. Of course sometimes when it was stormy it didn't exactly "float" down. And I sure don't miss having to drive in the stuff.

No plans for today except to go over my Bible Study information again. After I got finished yesterday I decided to go ahead and work on the next week's study and I'm going to be hard-pressed to find enough to talk about to last for an hour's time. Maybe I should have looked a little harder at the epistle. Right now Peter seems to be in a rant and I'm not too sure how to handle that. I'm going to try and get a lot of "audience participation." It's the only thing I can think of that will add time to the study. I don't want to just add more verses because I'm trying to make this study long enough. There are three chapters to 2Peter and I thought if I broke each chapter in two that would make a six-week study, which is a good length for a study. Yes, I definitely think I should have looked at the letter a little harder before I suggested we study it. Well, it's too late now! Michael still says he may go with me to small group for the study but he seemed a little more hesitant yesterday when I asked him to go again. So cross your fingers and pray that he will go with me. It's hard for me, you know? Church is such a big part of my life and I want to share it with him so badly. God is my reason for being and I want so much for him to accompany me on this journey. And these are fun people. It's not like he's going to be miserable around them. And he gets along well with people. He can talk to anyone and he enjoys talking so I don't see him not having a good time. I saw Evelyn at church Wednesday and she and Jordan are still planning to have a dinner with Rita and Daryl and Michael and me, just the six of us. That would be an excellent thing to do for him. It would give him the chance to get to know them away from the church atmosphere. That's why I'm kind of pushing him on the small group Bible study. It's just a few people getting together at someone's house and talking about things. I mean, after all, it's not like he's never attended church before. He went all the time when we lived up the mountain and when we lived in Kingsburg. He just needs a little nudge, that's all. He's out of the habit.

Well, I guess I'll get this posted and shut down my computer. I think we'll have potato soup for dinner tonight. Sounds pretty good for a cold, raining, windy day, doesn't it? And it's not a lot of work to make. Looks like the wind has died down out there a bit but the rain is coming right on down. It will be interesting to see how the day progresses. I LOVE WEATHER!! I still haven't decided on what I'm going to do with my blog. I'm taking today's blog to heart and just sort of waiting for the Lord to lead me on this matter. I think I have two blogs left that I had written in advance and when I finish those I'm thinking about taking a sabbatical for a week or so and then come back with the new material I have written in the past couple of weeks. I haven't made any decisions because I just can't seem to get my mind made up on what I want to do. I think I do need a rest but I'm not sure how long that will be. You'll know when I know. Until Monday ...