Wait.... what?

“God gives us promises in our present to help us see what He sees. Prophecy is to help us partner with God for a future that He already has in His heart for us, which brings us faith so that heavens reality can be our reality.”  

I can’t remember who said this, but I can remember the impact it made on my life. How often we confuse the two and don’t understand why our natural world isn’t lining up with what we know God has spoken. It can be really difficult to keep faith and wait for things to line up. But let me just tell you now, what God speaks, and what we see, rarely line up. And there's good reason for this. When what God says will happen is obvious, we won’t see Him in it. It would be something in our control instead of something He had to have His hand in to make happen. He does radical things like this so that when the answer comes, we get the blessing and He gets the glory. If it seemed possible in our natural world, how could our supernatural God really show Himself? If the answer was obvious or easily obtained, we wouldn't need God to fulfill it. So, take heart and realize that He is the God of the impossible. If He says it’ll happen, even if we don’t see a way, by golly it’ll happen! But waiting is still a hard thing. I totally get that. And if I'm honest, I'm not great at it.   Just like most people I have my moments of struggle with patience. When God tells me I can, or will, have something, I want it now. When He asks me to wait, I sometimes want to kick and scream like a child. And sometimes I do, let’s be real. Woo patience can be so difficult! But what I find to be most amazing about these moments is Gods willingness to partner with me in those places and how He uses them to help me grow. My time of waiting is always chalk full of lessons, new revelation, and maturity in my walk. I fully believe that when God speaks, we have the power and authority to pull that promise into our present. But what happens when we have to wait on the Lord? When His timing is outside of our ability to in fact be patient? This can be disheartening and frustrating.   In my experience that’s the place that faith grows and manifests its self most in our lives. So, what does growing faith look like? How do we walk that out in our lives without finding ourselves discouraged and struggling? I don’t know about you, but that’s a hard place for me. On one hand I want to be patient enough to wait on Gods timing. He knows better than I do after all. And I've definitely learned that if He tells me to wait, it's worth it. On the other I find myself frustrated that what I was told is mine can’t be here now. It’s a gray area, and if you know me, you know I detest gray areas. Sometimes I think God gets a good chuckle out of putting me in these places and gray washing my world. But, inevitably, these are for my own good and I know that. Walking in them, however, is another story.  

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). So, by that definition, and the word I shared, God speaking these things should be enough. So why do we struggle so much in this place? One conclusion I can come to is a lack of trust in our relationship. I believe a lot of our faith comes from this, from trust. If we know God, and I mean really know Him, we come to a relationship with Him that cultivates trust. No relationship is solid without it. The more we allow ourselves time to get to know Him as a person, talk to Him, read His word, the more we trust Him. The more we can let go of control and hand Him the reigns. Once we have a solid understanding of who He is, we are more free to allow His timing and stay still in our waiting. We learn that His character won't allow for anything but fulfilled promises. And that He is good enough to only give us the best, even if that takes a little more time. We see that the wait is worth it. Even if it’s hard.   So why is it so hard to hold on to that trust? We can see large manifestations of His presence, miracles beyond our understanding, moves in our lives we know can only be God. And yet, when the fire gets going around us, when our worlds are nothing but shades of gray, we turn to ash and fall to our faces in fear. Why do we so easily forget who He is and what He is capable of?   I think the answer is found in our basic humanness. We get hurt by people around us. Sometimes in the grandest of ways. Walls go up around our hearts that make us feel in control. Defense mechanisms are formed to protect ourselves from the gnarring teeth of the ones who may break us. But the biggest realization we can have as humans is to take God out of that box. To realize that He isn’t like us. We may have been formed in His image, but He is far from human. So much so that its outside of most of our understanding. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (NIV) We must get it into our hearts that this God of ours does in fact work to bring good into our lives. That everything He does is to benefit us and give us the life that He wants for us. We have to get out of our own minds and get into His. And we can do this, not only through our relationship with Him, but by remembering what He has already done for us. We have to find ways to remind ourselves what He said and what He did. It’s key to holding on to trust with our limited, easily distracted human minds.   All throughout the bible they speak of alters built to the Lord. And when anyone passed by them, they would remember what God did; how He delivered them, freed them, showed up for them. I don’t know how all of you work, but I have a tendency to live in my moment. My current reality will often dictate how I'm feeling and sometimes can wash away what I know to be true. So, I often have to remind myself of things God has already done for me to add logic back into what I'm looking at. I keep a notebook of words, dreams, experiences, and deliverances the Lord has brought to me. When I find myself weary, and my faith weak, I can go to that book and remember. It helps to remind myself that my walls aren’t necessary. That I can in fact be vulnerable enough to trust God at His word and be patient. It helps me to build and alter in my heart for Him. To remember what He has spoken and done in my life. It becomes a foundation for my strength in waiting when I feel like giving up. And it grounds me when my emotions are flowing from a place that maybe isn’t the actual truth or reality of my situation. It helps. Find a way to build alters in your life to testify to your heart about what God has done and let it ground you in His sovereignty. I promise, it will help you hold on to the absolute fact that you can trust Him. It's also important to remember that this uncomfortable space is exactly what feeds growth. If we were never pushed out of our comfort zones we wouldn’t have the freedom to learn new things. Our faith can grow here because well, we have the space. We have room to let in the new, disregard the old, and fill ourselves with fresh understanding. God takes us from what's comfortable so we will learn to lean on Him in ways we never have before. He makes the ground shaky so we will grab ahold of His arm and let Him give us balance. Maybe you're thinking that’s unnecessary. But let’s be honest here, we rarely move unless we have to. We're creatures of habit and comfort; He knows that. He knows we need to be compelled to make change sometimes. And in waiting we have the perfect opportunity to do just that because it’s uncomfortable. And we don’t like to stay uncomfortable. So, while the waiting could simply be about timing, it could also be a feeding ground for faith and growth into new levels. It always has purpose.   Waiting is also the perfect time for preparation. God will come through with that best case scenario but He wants us to be ready for it. He wants us to be able to handle the blessings He has and the things He wants to pour out for us. So sometimes the waiting is our opportunity to get ready. To clean out the darkness we carry but don’t need. To change our mindsets and cleanse our hearts of what doesn’t serve us. To change defense mechanisms, take down walls, and heal the broken parts of us. Getting what He wants for us may take some growth and change. If you're going to bring home a brand new baby, are you going to put them into a dirty room filled with clutter? No. You're going to clean that room out, paint the walls, and set up the new furniture so the baby has a proper place to be. Our waiting is sometimes the same thing. We need to be ready to receive what God has. Have a proper place to bring those blessings into our lives. So, God will use that time to make those changes. Get us cleaned up, dressed up, and ready for what He has. The sooner we allow our preparation to take place, surrender to Him, the sooner He can wash away the gray and add in new colors. The sooner we’ll see His promise come to life. I'm definitely not perfect at waiting. I get so impatient and sometimes my mind wanders away from the things God has spoken. That's why the alters are important, that's why relationship is important. But as I wait on God, if I allow it, my faith will indeed grow. My trust will be strengthened. And my patience, the patience He gives me, will sustain me. No one is going to be perfect at waiting. It's a place most of us feel is intolerable, and let's be honest, frustrating. But with God, there is always a plan for our good. There is always a reason. And we can always trust that in the end, the wait was worth it. So, I encourage you to show yourself some grace and not be too hard on yourself in the moments of struggle. (Speaking to myself here too). Were only human, and the pain this life can cause sometimes veils us from seeing the bigger picture. But if we are willing to stay in relationship with God, keep our eyes heavenward, and establish our alters to the Lord, we might just be able to grow into a new and beautiful place of faith that will indeed carry us into the promises the Lord has spoken into our lives. If we let ourselves be guided instead of running ahead thinking we know best, we’ll have more peace and we will most definitely prosper. Take the time to listen to the Lord and ask Him why you're waiting, what He wants to do with you in that time, and how you can partner with Him to facilitate the blessings you're waiting on. He’ll answer you. He always does.   Proverbs 8:34 ”Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.”