Happy Half Way Point!!
Did you know that we are approaching the exact middle of 2024!! As I thought and prayed about this year so far, I was left with the word WAIT. This has been a half year of waiting for many of us, for our church family and for our world. Waiting is one of the hardest things for me and maybe for some of you. My mind is always rushing months ahead, my schedule is planned weeks ahead, and I find myself always thinking about what's next today or this week. Waiting can be seen as a negative in this fast paced, over scheduled world we are living in. But as I reflected and searched what God has to say about waiting, I was challenged to think in an entirely different way. Here is some of my journey!
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9, NIV
Waiting is inevitable, but it is how we wait that matters. Do we wait with patience and faith or do we wait with frustration and irritation? This, like many things in our lives and in our walk with the Lord is a choice. I often choose the latter, at least in the beginning, but God is gentle and forgiving with me as He guides me through my 'go to' feelings and shows me a better way.
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).
Waiting is humble, waiting is faithful, waiting is trusting. Waiting strengthens our hearts, grows our spirits, and draws us into closer relationship with God. Waiting is good!
“The LORD is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25).
Waiting on God is honoring God. Waiting is part of His plan!! This was a revelation to me, waiting makes me feel like something is wrong, but God is showing me that His plan is often for us to wait.
“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope” (Psalm 130:5).
While we are waiting, we are growing. Waiting is not only about looking forward to what will happen at the end of the wait. Waiting is about what you are becoming as you wait!! Sometimes, when God asks us to wait, He is rescuing us from the illusions of our own plan, our own wisdom, and our own control. He is teaching us to rely on Him alone.
God doesn't want us to be waiting in frustration or irritation or passivity, He wants us to actively seek the meaning of this waiting time. While we seek, we may not find an immediate answer or end to our wait, BUT we will find a deeper relationship with our Lord and Saviour....and that is worth any waiting time He sends our way. So in the waiting I challenge myself and you to seek His face and His will, but also to rest in the absolute truth that God is in control of our waiting and that He has the most wonderful plan....... Far beyond what we could ask or imagine, far beyond our wildest dreams!
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3:17-21
Thank you all for the patience, faith, persistence and love that you share with Calvary children each week! You are amazing!!
Be encouraged and blessed as we wait on the Lord together.
Blessings
Alanna