BEST TO WAIT

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was talking with a distraught sister last evening. She is a faithful lady for sure. She has a huge and loving heart and a gentle and compassionate spirit. Her smile is infectious and reflects her faithful and giving demeanor.

But last night a situation was pushing her to the brink.

Her situation, while not unique to my line of ministry, was most certainly unique to her and it was getting worse.

She has a dear friend who she is watching destroy his life with alcohol. Her friend has so much potential and so much opportunity, but is desperately stuck in the cycle of a severe addiction.

She is deeply burdened.

She is confused. She is angry. She is frustrated.

Often it is the “loved ones”, the ones who have been relegated to spectator who suffer the most when addiction interrupts. I know my wife Beth spent many a sleepless night in conversations with GOD as to what to do with me, my disease, the impact it was having on the family and what to do next. My friend is now in the same boat.

Yet as we talked we continued to come to the same conclusion.

We must wait.

We must give it to GOD.

We must trust.

And while all of those are easily said they are all incredibly hard to do.

I have learned it can be very “Pastor-ish” to encourage patience in others, but we all know that patience is not something easily developed and is even harder to exercise; especially when someone we love is hurting and on the road to a painful end.

Waiting can feel as if we are doing nothing.

We ask ourselves how can we stay in a holding pattern before the Lord when we have a problem that needs a solution, a question that requires an answer, or an urgent decision that must be made. We often look to the sky and shout “Come on GOD or really GOD?”

But we must wait.

GOD sees what we see. GOD is burdened by what burdens us.

Psalm 5:4

I know you (GOD) get no pleasure from wickedness and cannot tolerate the slightest sin.

And GOD has the solution. Never forget GOD can be implicitly trusted. His timing is perfect. So we are always better served to wait, watch and pray.

Psalm 130:5

I pray to God—my life a prayer-and wait for what he’ll say and do.

Ecclesiastes 8:6

For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him.

I won’t kid anyone today. I am NOT a patient person. I struggle when GOD clearly calls me to wait. I like things moving and shaking; I like to make things happen; to fix things.

But GOD is teaching me day by day to be more trusting and less fretful; to spend more time listening for Him than formulating patches and half-baked solutions. GOD is pressing me daily to recognize His sovereignty in situations and to trust the impeccable nature of His clock and calendar.

So my friend and I will wait. We will trust the truth.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

But how bout you?

I am certain she and I are not alone in this challenge of waiting. Perhaps a similar circumstance is swirling around you. Perhaps there are a myriad of unanswered questions raining on your life right now. Take a breath. Pull away from the drama and pause.

Trust GOD’s timing. Trust His truth. And wait. GOD has got it. And GOD has GOT you.

Isaiah 40:30-31

…He (GOD) knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who WAIT upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney