Discussion: How Do You Know?
February 26, 2021
I have heard throughout my life people saying, “I’m waiting on the Lord.” Then years later they say, “Well, you know, I’m just waiting on the Lord.” Trust me, I understand this, because most of the time our timetable is so different from the Lord’s. Truthful, I was glad of the timing of God because what I was waiting to happen, God did more than I could have imagined. When it happened, I was so amazed at God’s timing. Perfect!
Now, I must confess, there have been many uncomfortable periods I’ve faced in my life. Mainly, how to determine if I’m waiting on God or if God is waiting on me. Again, I understand the waiting, then I read, faith without works is dead. How do I single out who is waiting, me or God? How do I determine when to be still or to be working? What have you been waiting for, especially for over a year or years? Basically, I’m not speaking of immediate needs, yet prayers that you honestly want to see God move for you. It is a cry from your heart, even though time has moved on from the place you asked God. There is still a faint voice that reminds us from time to time of the prayer we believe has gotten no answer.
While sitting here and thinking about things I’ve asked for in the past and haven’t thought about for a while. I’ve heard it said God always answer with a yes, no or not now. I can accept that explanation. Still, how do we determine if he has said yes, no or not now? I believe God never will leave us in the dark concerning our prayers. When we ask our earthly parent (s) we normally get an answer in some form, even if they say come back later I’m busy now. And we felt we may not have got an answer to our question. Nevertheless, we heard something regarding our interaction with them. My seniors would say take it to the altar and leave it there. I must admit there were times I went back to the altar and got them.
For a moment, let’s consider what God has always wanted from humanity. He has wanted a family. He has wanted to be in relationship with us. God is love and wanted a place for his love to flow into…. so he created Mankind. He knows the number of hairs on our head. (Luke 12:7) Unquestionably, we are very important to God. Its people that makes us feel unloved, unimportant. Many embrace what others think of them and live their life based on someone else definition.
I want to take a deep breath here and share what has helped me in the tough places on my journey. Above all, for me it has been Faith. Not faith in what I had or have been asking for in my life. But faith that God knows what’s best for me. This has kept me stable in life. In situations when I don’t see a manifestation or know if I got a no or not now, my faith supports me. One of my sisters in the Lord (Eileen Hunt) said to me once, if you do something believing it is God, he will bless you. If you do something, believing it is God, and it’s not, he will protect you. This was very freeing. For this reasoning alone, we can continue to believe when we pray, knowing God hears us.
So for me, I continue to walk in faith. As I walk in faith, I believe it’s my faith that will cause me to know when to work and when to be still. There have been times I have worked so hard towards a goal and the outcome wasn’t what I was working towards. Sometimes when I look back at what I considered a failure, I now see that it was a lesson. I saw the lessons from the past were currently holding me up in my present life. I saw the muscles I had built up inwardly for my future endeavors, which enables me to push forward. What I thought had been a failure in my past had created in me wisdom as I look around my life today. Everything we go through will always have within it a lesson. Too often we pull from the good and dismiss the bad as never again.
There’s an echo you hear deep within your soul crying to get out. There are many sleeping giants in the world who have forfeited their full potential. Life never takes from us, but can sometimes cause a detour or change the scenery. We look for money to fulfill our dream and life has you sitting in bankruptcy court. There was the couple that knew they were going to take on the world, yet life has them signing divorce papers. We are ready to start the business we have saved for over the years and then life happens and it drains the savings account. I want to say to you, the goal never changed; the mission is still the same.
How many of us read the manual when we buy a product? After putting all the parts together and you hit the power button, but nothing happens. You adjust some parts and press the power button, but still nothing happens. We finally set down and read the manual and say, “oh that’s what I need to do or I see what I need to do.” When we look back at life we sometimes say, oh I see or I get it now and we move forward. Far too many have been in the Waiting Room of Life. My message will always be for many of you, the world is waiting. The sign hanging on the waiting room reads Closed.
Thank you for joining me for Friday at Sundown. Remember… Just Breathe!
Resources Corner:
Psychological Trauma
GirlVictorious: Life After Trauma is a blog geared at helping women lead a meaningful, full, and victorious life after going through trauma.
Domestic Violence
National Domestic Violence Hotline can help victims, survivors of domestic violence. Call 1-800-799-7233. Chat w/an advocate on our website. National Domestic Violence Hotline: www.thehotline.org/
Aid for Military Veterans
In an attempt to cope with the pain of overwhelming emotions, sometimes veterans turn to unhealthy relationships, at-risk behaviors, or substance abuse.
Welcome Home is Celebrate Recovery's (CR) tool to help veterans stuck in hurts, hang-ups, and habits. (These statements are from CR’s Homepage). You are not alone! https://www.welcomehome.celebraterecovery.com