Waiting requires patience - a willingness calmly to accept what we have or have not, where we are or where we wish we were, whomever we live or work with. To want what we don't have is impatience, for one thing, and it is to mistrust God. Is He not in complete control of all circumstances, events, and conditions? If some are beyond His control, He is not God.
A spirit of resistance cannot wait on God. I believe it is this spirit which is the reason for some of our greatest sufferings. Opposing the workings of the Lord in and through our "problems" only exacerbates them. It is here and now that we must win our victories or suffer defeats. Spiritual victories are won in the quiet acceptance of ordinary events, which are God's "bright servants," standing all around us.
Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands...Nothing touched [Jesus] without His Father's permission. Nothing touches me without my Father's permission. Can I not then wait patiently? He will show the way.
If I mean to be obedient and submissive to the Lord because He is my Lord, I must not forget that whatever He allows to happen becomes, for me, His will at that moment. Perhaps it is someone else's sinful action, but if God allows it to affect me, He wills it for my learning. The need to wait is, for me, a form of chastening. God has to calm me down, make me shut up and look to Him for the outcome.
 |
| pin |
Ouf. Can she read my mind? This is part of a chapter in Keep a Quiet Heart called "Waiting." And thank God because this is exactly what I need to hear today. I tend to get inside my head a little too much and build up so much unnecessary anxiety, I have to remind myself to get off that stupid hamster wheel and just sit and rest with God. I realize that anxiety comes in waves, but I need to keep reminding myself that if I stop fighting myself and God, everything will happen when and how it should.
I was in yoga class last night and when the instructor said to establish a focus for the hour and pick a word, guess what word popped into my mind? Patience, darling. Okay, that was two words, but still...PATIENCE. I'm not a patient person, but that's the point. I clearly need to practice. Take a nap, little tired hamster, get off your wheel.
Sing it loud:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.
