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I love that this study by Daily Grace Co during Advent is focused on waiting. I’m learning so much during my daily conversations with Jesus, how to Let God be God, and I hope you are taking advantage of them too.
Verses for this week:
Psalm 25:4-5
Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
Psalm 27:14
Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
Psalm 39:7
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
Psalm 130:5-6
I am counting on the Lord;
yes, I am counting on him.
I have put my hope in his word.
I long for the Lord
more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
My best friend has recently had a baby. I have a dog. Baylor is just about the best dog you can have. He lays around and sleeps all day and he loves to cuddle at my feet and has the sweetest disposition. Before babies can walk or talk, the cry. Think about it they are trapped and rely heavily on the humans placed around them to take care of them when they need something. But they don’t just lay there and wait for someone to come change their diaper or feed them when they are hungry… they let you know. They cry. And sometimes to cry loud and what feels like incessantly. They lack patience.
In a culture that teaches us that immediate gratification is not only convenient, but possible – we like things now. We don’t wait because we don’t have to. Sometimes even waiting for a text message to come through can drive you up the wall (especially when you see the three dots – girls you know what I’m talking about!). Our cell phones, social media, and our culture feed our impatience and encourage us to desire immediate control over our life circumstances.
However, God is the complete opposite. He is not our genie and He does not grant us our wishes whenever we snap our fingers. His timing is not our timing. And to Him, waiting is not a bad thing, waiting in His mind is more like preparation – time spent with Him.
God uses waiting to change us. Let God be God.
During this period of Advent we are reminded of how the Israelites waited for Jesus. The study writes in today’s reading –
“The season of Advent is about waiting with anticipation for the Messiah to come. It is about putting ourselves in the position of the people of Israel who waited frothier Messiah.”
Waiting is hard. And when we fail to wait and we exercise this worldly characteristic of impatience it goes directly against God’s perfect plan for our lives. It separates us from Him. God works in the waiting.
Think about God as this crying baby’s father. Just because the baby is impatient and wants food now doesn’t make the parent love the baby any less. In fact, over the next several years, that parent helps train that baby that all you have to do is ask and the he will give whatever you ask for. Sound familiar? God treats us the same exact way. He is gracious and merciful and He understands that we are human. All He desires is a relationship with us and for us to turn to Him and seek His ways
Now, you have a decision to make. 1. You take matters into your own hands and you control your outcomes. You make an idol for the things you desire and you develop even a resentment towards a God who didn’t give you what you wanted. Option 2. However, we choose to sit with Him and wait.
You see God has appointed this time, this place you are in right now… for you. Let God be God and choose to anticipate His faithfulness in your coming days, weeks, months.
To be transparent, that is hard for me. I desire control, but I have to trust God and believe that what’s happening to me in the ‘waiting’ will develop me for the place God is taking me.
James 1:12 God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of lief that God has promised to those who love them.
Furthermore, there are soo many people in the Bible waited for God’s Promises: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David… Everything that happened to them while they waited was used to prepare them for the promise they longed for. And guess what – when they received their promise… they were blessed beyond measure.
Trust God’s goodness and anticipate His faithfulness. It’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it. It creates a level of maturity, both spiritually, and physically, that we will take with us and will help us enjoy his blessings even more.
Ephesians 3:20 – For God can do immeasurably more than we can think or imagine.
Let God be God.
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