Waiting Well

"I am the good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-"

- John 10:14

I feel like when it comes to the theme and lesson of waiting, I am on a never ending round-about, continually going in a circle : learning, forgetting, remembering, forgetting and so forth.  Maybe it isn't so much forgetting as it is losing sight of the truth of what it really means to wait.

I feel like I am in a constant state of waiting. I'm waiting for funds to come in for my summer mission trip, I'm waiting for my life to keep going forward in new directions, I'm waiting for friends to return to Jesus, I'm waiting for my future husband and the life we will share together, waiting and waiting and waiting...waiting for the waiting to end.

Some days I don't wait very well.

Some days I'm tired of waiting and I sink into despair and self pity. A place that as a child of God I have no place being in. Because in that place my eyes are not on my ever loving Father. My trust is not in Him.

Our Father is the good shepherd. He knows us best - better than we or anyone else knows us. He knows our hurts and our deepest longings. Our cries do not fall on deaf ears. He is listening. But His timing is not our timing and it's hard when you are impatiently waiting.

His timing can be so hard. So very very hard. But we can't give up because it's worth the wait. God is worth the wait. God is worthy of our waiting...of our waiting well.

Waiting well...

What does that look like? It's more than having patience. Patience isn't something you just magically get one day. Patience is a process...a process of waiting well.

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD.

So what does waiting well look like?

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

My study Bible's footnote says "Commit your way to the LORD- Literally roll your way upon the LORD.

Roll your way upon the LORD? What in the world does that mean?

Mathew Henry's Commentary had this to say about this verse :

"Commit thy way unto the LORD, roll thy way upon the Lord, so the margin reads. Cast thy burden of thy care. We must roll it off ourselves, not afflict and perplex ourselves with thoughts about future events, but refer them to God. By prayer spread thy case and all thy cares before the Lord, and trust in Him. We must do our duty, and then leave the event with God. The promise is very sweet, He shall bring that to pass, whatever it is which thou has committed to Him."

- I think waiting well is not worrying about things. It's placing the stresses of this life and the things that consume our thoughts at the foot of the cross, leaving them with Jesus to handle.

- Waiting well is living in the moment, not in the future. It's pursuing God with what you have already been given instead of waiting for more.

Luke 16:10

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little  will also be dishonest with much.

- Waiting well is spending time in the Word, in prayer and in worship. It's growing closer to your Father who will reveal those things that you seek in His perfect timing.

You can't expect your life to change if you don't spend time with the one who created your life.

So whatever you are waiting for whether it's a new job, more stable finances, a new direction, a new relationship, etc, continue to pursue the Father.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Because He truly is a good, good Father, the good shepherd who was willing to lay down His life for the sheep, for us. He is not only worth the wait, but worthy of our waiting.

Honor Him today by waiting well.

Isaiah 40:31

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Don't forget to subscribe :)

Questions, comments, prayer requests, feel free to reach out to me!

~Beka

Verses to live by!

Joshua 1:3

"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses."

As I was doing my daily scripture writing and devotions, this verse was on a list I found of important verses we should all memorize. So when I first read it, I was mad because it seemed to be taken out of context. I can't just take this verse and plant it in my life and say, "Well there ya go, God will give me success in all I do because Joshua 1:3 says so.."

No.

But as I thought more about it and read the surrounding verses (always important to read the whole story and not just one or two verses) I was shown how applicable this verse is to life. Not just my life and the path I'm on but for us all.

God was leading the Israelites to the promised land. This was at the end of their wanderings. Moses had just died and I'm willing to bet the people felt hopeless and defeated. Their great leader was gone. In this verse, God was speaking to Joshua and reminding Him of the promise He made to Moses. God was going to provide for what and where He was calling them to.

Vs. 7 says "Be strong and courageous...Be careful to obey all the law. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go."

What verses to live by!

God is calling us all to something, whether its a job, relationship(romantic or not), a mission trip, a way to live, ministry, etc. Whatever God is calling us to, He will provide. He's promised that. But only if we are faithful in return. I was never going to get all the funding for any one of my mission trips if after I heard the call of God I just sat at home on the couch and watched tv or looked at my phone for months on end and expected that come summer time the money would be there for me to go. No. I had to work for it. I had to prepare and plan. I had to write letter after letter and stuff envelopes and send emails. I had to work for it. I had to be faithful on my end. And in return, God showed up and provided in miraculous ways.

God our Father desires to bless us. But only when we are living for Him day by day. A parent isn't going to reward a child with bad behavior with gifts. No. A parent wants to reward a child for doing good.

We are God's children.

Don't forget that.

P.S. Please subscribe to the blog if you haven't already!

Way Beyond Me

"That You gave me the stars put them out of my

 reach

Called me to waters a little too deep

Oh, I've never been so aware of my need

You keep on making me see

It's way beyond me"

"Beyond Me" by Toby Mac

I heard this song on the radio tonight. I have heard it before but tonight it really hit me what it was saying. I knew I had to share it. As I look over the last five years, I can see time after time again that God has called me to something way beyond my abilities. He has called me on four mission trips and a discipleship program. Altogether, I have raised over $17,000. That is such an insurmountable figure to me. It's way beyond me. It's out of my league.

 God is in the business of calling people to things that are impossible to them, to waters too deep. 

Why does God do this?

He calls us to these things so that we can in turn learn how to fully and wholeheartedly trust and rely on God to get us through. 

I would never have raised that amount of money on my own. It was only through God's infinite provisions that I was blessed enough with the funds to go on these life changing trips. And I am no where close to being done. 

God doesn't call you once.

You also don't learn this lesson only once.

Each and every time God calls me to the waters, I feel like I am drowning. And every time God reminds me to trust. 

Just recently there have been some hiccups in my original plan for this spring (I will get into that more in a later post) and I was beginning to feel frustrated and discouraged. I was confused. God had called me to something and now it wasn't looking like it was going to happen. 

Then one Sunday I was reminded of a verse in Proverbs. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and 

lean not on your own understanding. In all

 your ways acknowledge Him and He will make

 straight your paths."

I had to refocus. I had to pray. And soon enough God gave me peace. And then He showed me something else. (will explain in a later post)

God came through. He answered my prayers. He always does.

"You take me to the place where I know I need You

Straight to the depths that I can't handle on my own

And Lord I know, I know I need You

So take me to Your great …

Take me to Your great unknown"

So if God is calling you to something and your first reaction is to fear or ignore it. 

DON'T!

"I am absolutely convinced that the greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities."

-Mark Batterson 'In a Pit with a lion on a snowy day.'

God will make your paths straight, you need only to pray and trust in Him. He is, after all, our maker, Father, and God. 

If you are having trouble letting go of control in your life, feel free to comment below. I'd love to pray with and for you. 

Are you fundraising for something that God has called you on and would like some pointers, let me know! I've definitely done my fair share of fundraising and I'm still not finished!

I definitely encourage you to read Mark Batterson's book, "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day". How to survive and thrive when opportunity roars.Such a great read. One of my favorites! 

(You can buy that here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Pit-Lion-Snowy-Day-Opportunity/dp/1590527151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453525659&sr=8-1&keywords=in+a+pit+with+a+lion+on+a+snowy+day

Thanks for reading! Be sure to 

subscribe/follow!

Beka

Here is the video if you would like to listen to the entire song!

Come and See

Come and See ...

John 1:46

"We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

John 4:28-29

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?"

Psalm 66:5-6

Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on food-come, let us rejoice in Him.

Come and see...

When I first read these verses back in October, they really hit me. It stirred something within me. Come. Following Jesus requires an action, a step of faith. See. When we take that step of faith that Jesus is calling us to, He will show us His will. Come and see. I love those three words. I love them because I can attest to the truth in that statement. 

I have heard the call of God in my life many times. I have taken those steps of faith. It always reminds me of that scene in Indiana Jones when Indy has to take that step of faith over the chasm, believing that somehow and someway he will not fall to his death.

In the same way, when God has called me to something or somewhere, I have to take that same step of faith. I never know where the path will lead. I barely know what will happen two steps down the road. I just have to trust in God because I know He knows it all. And that is enough for me.


So come...and see all that God is doing in my life. 

Come and see!

I have started and forgotten so many blogs but I hope this blog is different. I hope this one will stay alive for a very long time.

This blog is for everything. It's for my mission trip updates, crafts, reviews, projects and whatever comes to my mind. I hope you join me in this adventure called life and stay up to date on all that is happening.

Come

And 

See

Beka