Becoming 'OK'
Morning devotion: Galatians 1:15-16
God does what He wants to do when HE wants to do it - when it pleases HIM - in HIS timing. Not in our timing or when we want Him to do it or even when it makes sense to us for Him to do it. We pray, we study, we try to figure things out - but God still acts when it pleases HIM. He knows that HIS timing will benefit the most people in the most strategic and blessed ways -- and will also bring Him the most glory as His people praise His name for His glorious omniscience.
Of course, God's timing doesn't always make sense to us, especially when we are waiting for Him to act. Praying, waiting and accepting that God's timing is best is one of the hardest things for many of us to do -- especially those of us from Western cultures. It seems impossible for us to wait for God's timing. We want to jump ahead and fix the problem ourselves -- or my personal favorite -- manipulate the situation to get what we want or release the tension surrounding the situation. Many people call this 'playing the role of the Holy Spirit'. I am always deeply convicted when I am reminded of that fact.
Over the years, and because of the culture in which I am presently living, the waiting has become slightly easier (or at least more socially acceptable). I think I am in an intense time of praying and waiting right now and I am trying to view this time as a time of preparation for something in the future. A new role? A move? A crisis? I don't now what will come, but I am waiting on the Lord to tell me, show me, direct me... And He will act in HIS timing.
It is not my job to figure out how He is working in me - not my job to try to feel better or relieve the over-riding tension that I know we all feel while we are waiting.
It IS my job, however, to be faithful in the wait -- to obey in the small, daily, mundane items of everyday life -- to allow His Spirit to fill me and lead me in the way of holiness without my extreme resistance. I would think those things are enough to keep me sufficiently busy and hopefully fulfilled during what seems like a neverending wait.
I may not know - or ever - know what lies ahead. And somehow I must become 'ok' with not knowing - walking in the way God is leading without necessarily knowing the end destination. That, my friends, is the essence of trust and obedience in our all-knowing and all-loving God.
His timing is indeed best. Let's live in a way that says we really believe this.
~lk
God does what He wants to do when HE wants to do it - when it pleases HIM - in HIS timing. Not in our timing or when we want Him to do it or even when it makes sense to us for Him to do it. We pray, we study, we try to figure things out - but God still acts when it pleases HIM. He knows that HIS timing will benefit the most people in the most strategic and blessed ways -- and will also bring Him the most glory as His people praise His name for His glorious omniscience.
Of course, God's timing doesn't always make sense to us, especially when we are waiting for Him to act. Praying, waiting and accepting that God's timing is best is one of the hardest things for many of us to do -- especially those of us from Western cultures. It seems impossible for us to wait for God's timing. We want to jump ahead and fix the problem ourselves -- or my personal favorite -- manipulate the situation to get what we want or release the tension surrounding the situation. Many people call this 'playing the role of the Holy Spirit'. I am always deeply convicted when I am reminded of that fact.
Over the years, and because of the culture in which I am presently living, the waiting has become slightly easier (or at least more socially acceptable). I think I am in an intense time of praying and waiting right now and I am trying to view this time as a time of preparation for something in the future. A new role? A move? A crisis? I don't now what will come, but I am waiting on the Lord to tell me, show me, direct me... And He will act in HIS timing.
It is not my job to figure out how He is working in me - not my job to try to feel better or relieve the over-riding tension that I know we all feel while we are waiting.
It IS my job, however, to be faithful in the wait -- to obey in the small, daily, mundane items of everyday life -- to allow His Spirit to fill me and lead me in the way of holiness without my extreme resistance. I would think those things are enough to keep me sufficiently busy and hopefully fulfilled during what seems like a neverending wait.
I may not know - or ever - know what lies ahead. And somehow I must become 'ok' with not knowing - walking in the way God is leading without necessarily knowing the end destination. That, my friends, is the essence of trust and obedience in our all-knowing and all-loving God.
His timing is indeed best. Let's live in a way that says we really believe this.
~lk
Comments
It hit me one day after hearing that song that it had never previously occured to me that times of waiting are the times the Lord is strengthening me. Waiting always felt weakening because I wasn't DOING anything. Now, I realize who is DOING something.