A few days ago I posted a rant about God's timing. It was a typed-out version of the rant I recorded on my phone when I was feeling particularly lost, upset, & confused about God's timing of our upcoming missions trip. I decided to post it for transparency. Why hide my feelings? Although I am not necessarily feeling & thinking those same things today, or even the other day when I posted it, I believe it is an important part of our journey to Zimbabwe. It is an important part of my faith journey.
Today I want to share about finding contentment in the waiting. My mother-in-law shared with me a Beth Moore video about Esther 5 - about waiting. Not everything pertained to waiting on moving to another country to serve the Lord, but I did have three big take-aways.
Never in our wait is God inactive. If God is not sending us to Zimbabwe this month, like we expected, then He is doing something else. He is working in us. He is working in the people in Zimbabwe. He is working in our friends & family. He is calling us to more. To stronger faith. To healthier relationships. To deeper passions. I can choose to be inactive. I can choose to watch all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls. I can refuse to look around and see that God is doing something. Or I can choose to be active with Him. He wants me to come along beside Him and be active in His glory.
If we cannot wait upon the Lord, we will NOT fulfill our destiny. If Jesus would have given into temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13) & accepted he glory & authority over the Kingdom before the appointment time, then He would not have fulfilled His destiny to be our Savior, once & for all. During this time of waiting, Kam & I want to move. We want to DO something. We want to get into Zimbabwe on a tourist visa until our employment permits are approved. We want to go to a neighboring country to work with TEAM missionaries there. We want to go to a different continent & see what God is doing there. But is that our ultimate destiny? Is that His plan for us? If we don't wait, if we rush into something else without actively praying & seeking God's guidance, then we are not fulfilling our destiny. We are called to Zimbabwe for a year. We are called to wait for it.
If we wait on the event, we will grow weak and tired, but for those who wait upon the Lord, He will renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31). Why do we want to go to Zimbabwe? For adventure? For the sake of leaving South Dakota? For the sake of pleasing ourselves? That sounds like we are waiting on the event, waiting on the thing. We are getting tired & stressed out & trying everything we can to get there. What about waiting on the Lord? We are going to Zimbabwe for HIM. We need to wait on Him. We need to dig deep in the Word. We need to pray. We need our strength renewed.
Finding contentment in the waiting periods is quite hard. It's a daily struggle, but those three points help me to remember what it's all about. Christ Jesus, the giver of life & hope - the reason for everything.
& because we live in a culture focused on doing, tomorrow I share five things to do while finding contentment in the waiting.
No comments:
Post a Comment