This part we are in, not officially on the wait list yet but waiting for our final set of documents to be sent to Ethiopia, has been very frustrating.
Sending it in to our agency and having no control over what's next. Mailing to the next destination, not hearing on the status, not being able to do ANYTHING is frustrating to say the least.
I can type in a blog post all day "we are trusting in His timing, He is faithful" but if I'm not walking it out its a lie.
Last week me and 17 friends went to a Beth Moore conference in Charleston, SC.
{2 are not pictured}
He just meets you right where you are.
"Every independent action shows lack of faith/disbelief."
- B. Moore
Independent actions = not depending on another's authority (the Lord)
When I pray, do I pray it and work it?
OR
Do I pray it then obey it?
Do I say, I'm giving this waiting time over to You, Lord!
And then try to make independent actions to "help Him out?"
OR
Do I say, I'm giving this waiting time over to You, Lord!
And really do it.
And then the Lord nailed me.
"Every independent action is pure LAZINESS because it's work sometimes to just sit here & wait."
Wait, so it's laziness to actually try and help God out?
Yes.
It's easier to try and take matters into my own hands.
And by doing so it keeps me distracted from the waiting so I don't feel like I'm just sitting and doing nothing. Makes me feel like I have some sort of control & part of the process.
Because that's just what the Lord needs, right? My help?
The hard work is just sitting here and waiting.
Oh friends, I know some of you will get this if you've ever been waiting on the Lord for anything.
Test results. News of any sort. A decision to be made. That phone call. That email.
But here is some GOOD NEWS!!
God is GOOD!
And if you love Him, & are called according to His purpose, He is working this thing together for our GOOD!
It may not feel good right now but He's on it and the end result is GOOD!!
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
Isaiah 40:28
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
Isaiah 40:31
Indeed, He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over YOU!
Psalm 121:4
When I feel like He has NO IDEA what's going or how I'm feeling, I have to remind myself God has been interested in this process long before it came into my life. He knows me. He created me and this has been His will for our lives even before Roger and I were born. I believe that!
The lyric in "Great is Thy Faithfulness" leaped off the screen to me last time we sang it:
There is no shadow of turning with thee.
He has not turned away from us! There is no shadow, the Creator of the Universe is face to face with us!
Here's something else, when we are weak, and have done everything I know to do & prayed everything I know to pray, there is someone who is praying for me. Someone who happens to know the precise will of the Father for my life and is praying according to that will for me! On my behalf! If you want someone praying for you doesn't this sound like the perfect person!? It's the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.
Romans 8:26-27
Did you see it??
If that doesn't flat out encourage you I don't know what will!
*This is the perfect picture of how I felt leaving the conference {minus} the eye-makeup*
So this our prayer as we begin waiting:
Lord, this longing we have, make it for you. Forgive us for longing for Lily more than we long for You. We are resting in Your plan that's for Your glory & our good. Lord each month draw us closer and closer to You & please conform us to Your image as we wait. Thank you for your grace.
Amen.
May the things of Earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory & grace,
Kim
ps-We are expecting an email any day now with some really and I mean REALLY good news from our agency! WOOT!
