Whatever My Lot...

"...thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

- Isaiah 43:1-2

We all have situations in our lives that we don’t understand.  Whether it be a sickness or the loss of a loved one or an unexpected job loss or loneliness – someone at some time is faced with one or more of these situations and cannot for the life of them understand how they ended up there.  

I was struck by this thought recently as I sang the song “It Is Well with My Soul,” especially the line “whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say…”  As I sang that particular line, I was keenly aware of how strong those words are and how difficult it can be to mean them.  The Bible is full of God’s promises to order our steps and plan out our lives.  I don’t understand why difficult times happen.  It doesn’t make sense to me why one of my friends who is my age was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemo.  I can’t understand why jobs are terminated with no explanation and families left with nowhere to turn.  The feeling of loneliness is one that is very easy to get people down and discouraged because they feel like they don’t matter to anyone.  

Life is hard and it doesn’t always make sense … to us.  Notice that qualifier.  Who does it make sense to? God. He’s got everything all planned out (Jeremiah 29:11) and will work it for good (Romans 8:28) – not necessarily our good, but His.  What He asks of us is our patience (Romans 12:12) and our trust (Proverbs 3:5).  Those two words are easier said than done, but it’s what He requires.  We won’t, however, have to go it alone – He says in Isaiah that when we go through the hard, difficult, and confusing times that He will be with us (43:1-6).  

So when you go through hard and confusing times in life, don’t just ask God for His help in your situation, also thank God for His presence and praise Him for His promises.  He will give you the strength and wisdom in your situation; it just may take a little time.  “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.” May it be so.

On Your Mark...Get Set...WAIT!

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Four years ago when I was coming back to the States from my first mission trip to Hong Kong, I arrived at the Newark airport after the looooooong 15 hour, international flight.  When we got off the plane, we discovered that weather had delayed and cancelled many flights.  I went to the domestic terminal to discover that my flight back to Tennessee had been delayed…10, yes T-E-N, hours.  Talk about a long time to wait in an airport after already waiting 15 hours to get home…and crazy enough, that story doesn’t even compare to the wait time the other person on my team had to endure in order to get back home.

Waiting is never fun.  Whether it be in a doctor’s office or on hold with the phone company or for a delayed flight…we all have stories of times when waiting caused frustration to the max.  In life we have things that we may want to do or see happen immediately, but for some reason known only to God, we are having to wait upon the Lord for those things to come to fruition.  Even we as believers can get frustrated during these times of waiting because things aren’t happening on our timetable.  There’s the kicker, though… it’s not our timetable.  It’s God’s.

A couple of blogs ago, I talked about how God is doing a new thing in our lives and how we need to be patient and wait upon the Lord to reveal it in His time.  I wanted to expand upon that thought, but wasn’t led to go that far in that particular post.  It’s such a “God-thing” that this was what my pastor’s sermon was on this past week.  I wrote down some really encouraging thoughts that he presented and wanted to share them with you as a follow-up to my previous blog.  If you haven’t read it, click this link: A New Thing.

One thought my pastor shared was that “we are bound by time, but God is bound by eternity.”  He went on to say “God may be slow, but He’s never been late.”  Those two quotes spoke volumes to me when I thought about how strongly they connected with the topics I’ve been writing about lately.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”  God is all-knowing, we are not.  He has seen both the ending and the beginning.  He knows when and where the things we are waiting for will happen and is weaving our story together as a part of His beautiful master plan for our lives.  He’s not late…He’s in control.

Who am I to question the timetable of God?  As a believer, I surrendered my life to Him.  My life is His.  Romans 14:8 says, “We belong to the Lord.”  As I think about the truths and attributes of God and add to that the knowledge that I belong to the Lord, I come to the realization that I can’t be frustrated or aggravated when things aren’t happening when I want them to happen because I am God's to lead and direct.  This leads me to a challenge for each of us…when we are waiting on God to do something in our life, let’s choose not to wait with discouragement and frustration but instead anticipation!  God has promised plans to prosper and plans for a future (Jeremiah 29:11) so let’s choose to look forward...as we wait...to the great things God has planned for us!

So what do we do when we’re waiting on God?  My pastor offered three principles for those having to wait:

1. Wait with patience.   I know.  Patience is easier said than done.  I work with kids…so I know that patience can be pushed and pulled in more ways than you ever thought possible.  Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.”  What better testimony to waiting with patience than this short verse from David?  When we wait with patience…God will hear us and reveal His plan to us.
2. Accept God’s timing.  His time is always the right time.  Remember Ecclesiastes 3:11?  God has made everything beautiful in His time.  We may not understand it, but we should trust and accept it.
3. Learn to rely on God.  When I was a kid, I had a bracelet that said “FROG” and it stood for “Fully Rely On God.”  This is a great little acronym to help us remember who we can lean on when times get tough or when we think we can’t wait any longer.  My life verse is always one that helps me rely on God during times of waiting.  Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” 

I’m right there with ya…waiting with anticipation to see the things God has for me next.  Rest in the fact that God loves you, has a plan for you and will reveal that plan to you when that chapter of your life is ready.  He’s constantly preparing us in different ways for the different portions of our lives so that we can thrive.  If we aren’t ready to be in that environment and we enter that door before it’s ready to be open, we could be insanely miserable.  God’s timing is perfect, so don’t rush it.

So…on your mark, get set, WAIT!

It's Noisy in Here!

In the noise and confusion of day-to-day living, do we really stop and listen to what God is trying to tell us?  This noise and confusion doesn’t necessarily have to be audible commotion; it can be continuous thinking or even uncontrollable worrying.  I know for me personally, my mind is constantly wrapped up in thoughts of the day or thoughts about my future.  What words from the Lord have I missed out on because my mind was wrapped up in the noise and confusion of the hour?

This thought recalls to my mind the story of how God spoke to Samuel.  1 Samuel 3:4 says that one night before he had gone to sleep, the “Lord called Samuel.”  Thinking it was his teacher, Eli, Samuel ran to him and said, “You called.  I’m here.”  Eli must’ve said, “Um, sorry Sammy, but it wasn’t me.  Go back to bed.”  So Samuel went back to bed, but he heard his name again!  So again he goes to Eli, thinking it was him.  Eli says, “Sam, I didn’t call you.  You sure your hearing is okay?  Go back to bed.”  Samuel goes back to bed and again hears his name.  He goes to Eli once more, and by this time, Eli realizes that Samuel isn’t crazy and that God is the one who is calling Samuel’s name.  Eli says to Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if He [God] calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9).  Samuel followed Eli’s instructions and when he heard God call his name for the fourth time he said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10).  God then proceeded to tell Samuel some important news.  We find out later that as Samuel grew, God “revealed Himself to Samuel through His word” (1 Samuel 3:21).

Most times, I feel like Samuel, in that I can’t hear beyond the noise of the day.  So many thoughts consume me that I don’t take time to truly stop and listen to what God wants to tell me.  I’m so thankful God is a patient and forgiving God who waits for me to shut off all the commotion so that I can focus on Him.  In His presence is knowledge, wisdom, understanding, life, peace, joy, love, strength, and the list goes on and on.  I love Psalm 16:11 that says if I go into His presence, He “will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of His presence and the pleasures of living with [Him] forever.”  In this season of my life, I am learning patience and “waiting upon the Lord.”  How can I “wait upon Him” if I don’t stop and listen?  Hmm…makes ‘ya think, doesn’t it!?!

Turning off the noise depends on me.  When that happens, like Samuel, I can truly say “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”