Waiting

Waiting.  Waiting is not something I am good at.  In fact  you could say I hate to wait.  I can be very impatient.  Sometimes I jump into things before really checking them out or seeking God's counsel.   But, waiting is something that God asks us to do at times.  He says in Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not grow weary; and they shall walk and not grow faint."  This verse has popped into my head a lot lately as I have been seeking God for guidance in my job. 

Well, I have left my job, so the waiting is over.  Now there is a new waiting period.  A period or rest and seeking and growing.  I know God has something for me, I'm just waiting to find out what it is. That is the hard part, waiting.  It is weird not having to get up every morning and go to work.  To have nothing to prepare for the kiddos to do.  Instead I wake up and get into God's Word and find direction for my day.  I exercise my faith that He will show me the next step as I am stepping forward in the dark.  

I find it interesting how God has interwoven everything.  Listening, doing, waiting, having faith to go and do what He asks, even if we don't have the whole picture.  Trusting that He won't let us fall off the mountain into the abyss.  There are times during the day the thoughts in my head turn to worry and fretting about the drop in our budget and God will put a song in my mind:

Be not dismayed whate’er betide,

God will take care of you!

Beneath His wings of love abide,

God will take care of you!

God will take care of you,

Through every day o’er all the way;

He will take care of you;

God will take care of you!

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,

God will take care of you!

When dangers fierce your path assail,

God will take care of you!

All you may need He will provide,

God will take care of you!

Trust Him, and you will be satisfied,

God will take care of you!

Lonely and sad, from friends apart,

God will take care of you!

He will give peace to your aching heart,

God will take care of you!

No matter what may be the test,

God will take care of you!

Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

God will take care of you!

(by Civilla Durfee Martin)

I particularly like verse three, 

"All you may need He will provide,

God will take care of you!

Trust Him, and you will be satisfied,

God will take care of you!"

And this involves waiting.  Waiting for the new adventure, wondering what it will be.  Will it be in ministry again?  Children or adults?  Will I be waiting long or is something just around the corner.  It is exciting and scary at the same time.  But, I'm working on my listening skills and my waiting skills and my doing skills. They all work together.  I just need to remember that it is in God's time, not mine.  

Here is a video of a beautiful version of "God Will Take Care of You" performed by the Oakridge Boys.

Father,

Thank you for Your patience with me, for guiding me, and teaching me.  

In Jesus Name

Amen

Hearers and Doers

While I was teaching preschool, we would always say, "Use your listening ears" or "You need to be a good listener".  Well one day, as I was talking to one of the children, it dawned on me that they were listening, they just weren't doing what we were asking them to do.  So, I started saying be a good listener and a doer.  It helped, somewhat, but as teachers we would still see the same thing happening day after day from the same child(ren).  Why won't they learn?  Why do they keep doing the same thing, over and over, even after we have talked to them?

One day at school as I was pondering this while talking to the same child for the upteenth time, a thought popped into my head, why do I constantly mess up and not do what God wants me to do. Hmmm...James tells us in chapter 1 verses 22 to 25, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  (23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  (25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

How many times have I sat and had my devotions, read God's word, heard what He has to say to me and I say, "Yes LORD, I will do that" and then I get up and go about my day, sometimes without a second thought as to what God has directed me to do.  Or, I repent of something, like mismanagement of my finances, and ask for help and take the Dave Ramsey workshop, but time and time again, I spend money on frivolous things that I don't need or really want.  Makes me feel a bit of a hypocrite when I am not being a doer but expecting the children to.  But God is patient and merciful and continues to give me opportunities to be a doer.

While teaching preschool I probably learned more than what the children did.  God would show me things every day.  Mostly how much like a preschooler we all are.  We are His children after all, and we do not always act like "adult" children, but like little children.  Which would be good if it were in the faith department and we had the faith of a child.  But we tend to be good listeners but poor doers. I know I'm that way.

But I'm learning, and I'm growing, just like my preschoolers.  They eventually learn what they are supposed to, how to treat their friends, sit in group time, and walk down the hall.  They become better doers.  Now, I need to work on me.  I need to do more than spend time reading and studying God's Word and praying.  I need to be a doer.  I need to forgive the person who hurt me and move on, I need to guide my children, who are adults, in a way that respects their adulthood and the right to make their own choices and shows them God's love, but show them His Word as well.  I need to keep walking in faith, like God has been showing me He wants me to do, even if I can only take one step at a time.

Father,
Thank you for your grace and mercy.  Thank you for your forgiveness when I mess up, when I'm not a good doer.  Please help me to learn and grow and do in You.

In Jesus Name
Amen