August 19, 2012 ~ Waiting and Waiting and Waiting

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 (NAS)

NOTE: I absolutely promise you all my blogs won’t be this long but God prompted me big time to share this with you.

Thoughts ~

No matter how many times I hear or see the word “wait” my soul is quietly stirred and I sense a reminder from the Lord. It’s a sweet nudge from the Holy Spirit I will be taken care of and that the Lord will fight for me, send me, prompt me, provide for me and so much more.

The word wait was my special word two years in a row. I’m part of a wonderful small internet group of nine women called “Words to Live By.” I have not met them in person yet I call them my friends. We each pick one word for the year to concentrate on, finding a verse or verses in the word that encourage us.
  
For four years I had the same word: “trust.” Next I adopted “wait” and then came “love” and this year was “commitment.” I have always sensed the word that God wants to use in my life each year before the start of the next year. He wants to refine me into the woman He created me to be and commitment seemed an odd word to me for 2012. I am a loyal friend, committed to my family, to work, to school. However, the word has proven to be a strong companion as my life fills with new opportunities to be committed to. Because of the word, I did not give up on things I might have been tempted to.

Oooops, I digress! I wanted to talk about waiting; commitment can be my blog for tomorrow. J

So the two years I chose “wait” as my word, it was a time to put “trust” to the test. In the previous years I had truly learned how to trust in the Lord better than I had ever been able to before. It wasn’t because I was so great but that God was so GREAT and the Holy Spirit filled me with the power to trust Him because I had asked for this ability. Asking, I believe, is the key.

In the beginning of learning to trust God I had some difficulty in letting go of worry and anxiety. Over time God proved to me I could trust Him. There were a few minor setbacks as I would begin to fret over a situation. It was kind of like I was thinking God had forgotten me and was on a break from the life of Becky. Silly, huh? So I would begin to fret . . . a softer word than worry . . . but He taught me that we humans don’t see His BIG PICTURE! He taught me to wait on Him and not try to put my own agenda before Him.

So wait became my word in 2009 and again in 2010. I filled my journal, prayer lists and index cards with verses that encouraged me to wait. As I learned to wait, a peace flooded my heart that I cannot describe. Oh how I wish I could find the words. Blissful is one word but it’s more than that. It’s a little like being perfectly full after the best meal. Satisfied. Not wanting more. Content. It took the Lord two whole years to refine waiting in this gal but it’s been oh-so worth it.

Waiting and trusting are companion words. I can wait because I trust the Lord of my life. These days, I give God all the credit and all the glory (and I mean this: these are not idle words!) for teaching me to trust and wait. I didn’t have the power to do either of these because I am the type of woman who does what I think needs to be done and I used to just plow into the situation.

God taught me my thinking was not always right and that if I would give up the podium of control, He would take over and my life would be like one I had only dreamed of.

Join me. Trust with me. Wait with me. Are you ready?

Action~

I have some homework for you and I hope with all of my heart you will do it. There are hundreds who either read my blog or receive it via email and if all of us can perfect the art of trusting God and waiting on Him, we will make a ripple in our world. We can pass it forward. We will make such a difference.

I want you to find at least ten verses on trusting and ten on waiting. I will get you started with my top two favorites.  Write them out on index cards (or whatever) and commit them to memory. Saying them out loud is a great way to tell the enemy of God that he is not in charge of your worry factor.

Use www.biblegateway.com and type the word in the search box if you want to make it easiest).

Every time you start to worry, say a “trust” verse or two out loud. Every time you start tapping your foot in anxiety, say the “wait” verses out loud.

And when you say them, say them to the Lord. It goes like this:

Lord, You tell me to Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let my heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD” so I will do this. I will wait on You.

What happens with this exercise is when you are saying verses out loud, it is like a prayer of God’s own word back to Him. It is a holy repetition which becomes familiar and familiarity becomes real and real becomes a life style change, a soul change. Because our God is trustworthy, when you wait on Him, the perfect solution will come in His perfect timing.

Trust:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NAS)

Wait:

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 (NAS)

Pray~

Father God, I place before you all those who read my blog and who want to stop worrying and want to trust you and wait on your perfect timing. I ask You to give them the power of the Holy Spirit in learning how trustworthy You are. And I ask that You will show them in a supernatural way how faithful You truly are.

Trusting in Him,

Becky