Day 301 - Holding Patterns

"I listened to Bishop TD Jakes podcast about transition with a lady named Sheryl Brady who preached at his conference. It ministered to me. She had some nuggets of wisdom. One was that we may be in a holding pattern and need to stay there because we are going to fly soon. We need to stay there because otherwise we, like the caterpillar in the cocoon, will have to go back to crawling. Second she said that God is our teacher and rabbi and speaks before the test and is silent during the test. He knows we can handle it so he watches how we take it."

For all those waiting on the Lord be encouraged. It is only in the waiting that the promise of renewed strength can come. God is faithful to His word and will carry it out the way He desires. Go and find the verses in the Bible about waiting on God. Every one of them has a common thread; waiting. In order to receive the promises you must be waiting. 

If you're like me you don't like to wait. In a time and day where everything from movies to oatmeal is instant we are impatient at best. Over the years fast food and microwave mentality has crept in and laid waste to our processes by which we get to quality results. Many would sacrifice quality for instant gratification. 

God will not be rushed though. He knows the fullness of time and waits for the proper season. He sees the fruit ripening and waits until optimal time and then immediately puts in the sickle. He may not be on our time but He is always on time. 

That word 'wait' in the original language also adds another dimension to our understanding. If it were only about waiting we all would go nuts or forget what we were waiting on. The word is not passive but rather active. It speaks of entangling in. We are to be wrapping up our lives in God and entangling ourselves in Him while we wait. Now we see what we are supposed to do in those holding patterns of life. Wait, entangle yourself, on the Lord. Get wrapped up in God. When we do then He will do His part, His way, in His time. 

Are you in a holding pattern? How can we get entangled in God? 

Day 209 - What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do

"The question is 'Should we?' We agreed again to wait on The Lord."

What do you do when you don't know what to do? The answer is simpler than we think. I know I have a way of complicating things in my mind by looking to multiple outcomes. Eventually my mind is exhausted and I give up on any solutions and end up doing nothing. 

The simple answer is that We are to wait on the Lord. It is a simple answer and sounds like we should do nothing. On the surface it seems that waiting on the Lord means we sit back and God will either do it all for us or He will eventually give us the answer. I am not throwing those scenarios out because God can do whatever He wants. But the definition of waiting on the Lord is surprisingly active on our part. 

Waiting on the Lord means that we intertwine ourselves with the Lord. The image that we get from this word is that we are like the braided rope that is wrapped around and woven together. 

So what do you do when you don't know what to do? Get wrapped up in the Lord and wait with expectancy for His way to be accomplished. As you get wrapped up in Him He will be in you and you can't go wrong with that! 

What are some ways we can get wrapped up in God? Have you seen this work in your life?

Day 71 - Long Waits

"My illustrator got me the first proof of Sarah's Silly Sock Day. Seeing it all together makes it so much more real. We have some changes but should be sending the completed book to West Bow Press soon. It is exciting!"

As some of you may or may not know I wrote a children's picture book "Sarah's Silly Sock Day". The book was recently released on Thomas Nelson's indie publishing company West Bow Press. It is doing amazingly well with very little marketing. I am humbled and amazed at the support of my family and friends and church through this process. 

I wrote the words above in quotes a year ago today when my first proof was completed. From that time to my actual submission was a month or so. From the time of my submission to my first printed proof was many more months. I ended up having to resubmit and that process took about a month or so. 

We all can handle setbacks and obstacles. We can even put up with a year of delays. Can I share something with you though? I wrote the book four years ago. Four years. Have you heard the phrase 'hurry up and wait'? That is what it felt like for most of the process. It wasn't easy or cheap and it wasn't always fun. 

If you are going to start doing something like we discussed in yesterday's post then get ready for opposition. Joshua took the promised land with a sword in his hand. There were supernaturally long days and miraculous victories. There were also problems and sin issues he had to deal with. 

I have had plans and prayers that have taken years and even decades. Yet I know that God is working. I am too. 

Don't get discouraged. It is all a part of the process. Anything worth doing is worth the investment of time, pain, waiting and even suffering if that is what it takes. 

Have you had to wait years for dreams, prayers or plans to come through? What help you to endure?

By the way, If you are interested in Sarah's Silly Sock Day you can get it here.