**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
As
I read the story of Mary and the announcement of the virgin birth in Luke I am
continually struck by Mary’s inner life. Repeatedly in the first chapters of
Luke the gospel writer says that she treasured and pondered the words and works
of God in her heart.
I want to be one who attends to God, hears Him and treasures what He says and
ponders it. In order to be that a few things need to take place:
Slowing down
Quiet
Paying attention
Listening
Waiting
Trusting
How about you? Can you hear what God is saying?
If so, do you treasure his words or are they equal with all other voices?
Do you meditate on those treasured words and let them sink deep?
As I seek to, I invite you to as well.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Friday, September 6, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
For Those Waiting
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
Many of us are in times of waiting. Waiting for the next job, waiting for a baby, waiting for a test result, waiting for a season of trials to be over, waiting for direction or an answer. Waiting times are full of unknowns and unrest. A prayer for those waiting:
While you wait, may God give you the grace to trust. In the midst of unknown may he overwhelm you with peace. When uncertainty seems to dominate may he give you joy in the present moments.
As you wait may Jesus be enough and may you settle and rest in him. Amen.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Many of us are in times of waiting. Waiting for the next job, waiting for a baby, waiting for a test result, waiting for a season of trials to be over, waiting for direction or an answer. Waiting times are full of unknowns and unrest. A prayer for those waiting:
While you wait, may God give you the grace to trust. In the midst of unknown may he overwhelm you with peace. When uncertainty seems to dominate may he give you joy in the present moments.
As you wait may Jesus be enough and may you settle and rest in him. Amen.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Friday, August 2, 2013
God's Timing
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
God’s timing is perfect. It is not always known or understood, but it is perfect. Is there something you are waiting for? Something you are trusting God for? How is your wait going?
As you wait, will you trust God? Will you believe He is trustworthy and perfectly timely?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
God’s timing is perfect. It is not always known or understood, but it is perfect. Is there something you are waiting for? Something you are trusting God for? How is your wait going?
As you wait, will you trust God? Will you believe He is trustworthy and perfectly timely?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
While You Wait
**Sit quietly, eyes closed in silence for one minute before reading.**
“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I
would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the
LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm
27:13-14
These verses in Psalm 27 are some of my favorite in all of Scripture. I love them because they speak of hope, of God’s goodness on earth, of the reality that it is difficult to wait and that we need to choose to take courage and stand strong. They are a summation of life as we wait for redemption, for healing and ultimately for the LORD.
The reason we do not despair is because we believe and trust in God’s goodness. The challenge to be strong, take courage and wait (mentioned twice!) shows that it is difficult to do just those things. To wait for redemption and healing from God has its ups and downs, its moments of despair and moments of great hope. Mostly it is waiting, waiting and trusting.
May these verses encourage you today as you wait on the Lord.
These verses in Psalm 27 are some of my favorite in all of Scripture. I love them because they speak of hope, of God’s goodness on earth, of the reality that it is difficult to wait and that we need to choose to take courage and stand strong. They are a summation of life as we wait for redemption, for healing and ultimately for the LORD.
The reason we do not despair is because we believe and trust in God’s goodness. The challenge to be strong, take courage and wait (mentioned twice!) shows that it is difficult to do just those things. To wait for redemption and healing from God has its ups and downs, its moments of despair and moments of great hope. Mostly it is waiting, waiting and trusting.
May these verses encourage you today as you wait on the Lord.
**Sit again in quiet for as long as is available to you.**
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
"When God, when?"
**Sit quietly, eyes closed, for one minute before reading.**
“God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, Ecclesiastes 3:11a
At times it is nearly impossible to see how this verse makes sense, how it is true. We cannot imagine how God can bring together suffering, challenges or even evil to make something beautiful.
It is often difficult to see how God can take a million puzzle pieces and fit them together into something beautiful. We cannot imagine what beautiful picture He is working towards and why He is taking so long. So, equally as difficult is waiting for the time in which these pieces will come together. “When God, when?”, we ask.
When will He heal our daughter? When will He return our brother home? When will our parents stop fighting? When will He stop the chaos of abuse, violence, exploitation, war? “When God, when?”, we ask.
In our heart wrenching request to know when, God works with the final picture in mind. He sees the picture of what is to come and asks us to hope and to trust. Hope for that which we cannot see through trusting Him. Trust. There it is again. Not easy.
What are the puzzle pieces in your life that you are wondering about? How is your heart in the waiting?
Is there something in your life that you cannot imagine being redeemed into something beautiful? Talk to God, let Him know, ask Him for faith and allow Him to meet you.
**Sit again in quiet for as long as is available to you.**
“God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, Ecclesiastes 3:11a
At times it is nearly impossible to see how this verse makes sense, how it is true. We cannot imagine how God can bring together suffering, challenges or even evil to make something beautiful.
It is often difficult to see how God can take a million puzzle pieces and fit them together into something beautiful. We cannot imagine what beautiful picture He is working towards and why He is taking so long. So, equally as difficult is waiting for the time in which these pieces will come together. “When God, when?”, we ask.
When will He heal our daughter? When will He return our brother home? When will our parents stop fighting? When will He stop the chaos of abuse, violence, exploitation, war? “When God, when?”, we ask.
In our heart wrenching request to know when, God works with the final picture in mind. He sees the picture of what is to come and asks us to hope and to trust. Hope for that which we cannot see through trusting Him. Trust. There it is again. Not easy.
What are the puzzle pieces in your life that you are wondering about? How is your heart in the waiting?
Is there something in your life that you cannot imagine being redeemed into something beautiful? Talk to God, let Him know, ask Him for faith and allow Him to meet you.
**Sit again in quiet for as long as is available to you.**
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Hoping Without the Details
**Sit quietly for one minute before beginning to read.**
A friend and I were recently having coffee and both sharing our separate stories regarding our feelings of fragmentation in our lives. There are bits and pieces of our lives happening but we do not know how it will come together or if it will all come together. We do not know how one thing will fit with another or why even we might be doing some of the things that we are doing now.
We are both highly intentional people. We do not just do things just to do them, we have ideas, purpose and vision yet we feel lost, in limbo, waiting for the puzzle pieces to fit.
In the midst of all this we have to hope. And this hope is without details. We have no idea how things will come together or when they will (and we wonder if they will) we hope it does. Somehow, even if we cannot see it we hope that God, the Master weaver, will not leave any part of us out but will bring everything together. We have to hope based on God’s goodness which includes that He has not left us. We cannot see any details but we hope. We hope because God is good, He is loving and He is sovereign.
**Sit again for as long as is available to you.**
A friend and I were recently having coffee and both sharing our separate stories regarding our feelings of fragmentation in our lives. There are bits and pieces of our lives happening but we do not know how it will come together or if it will all come together. We do not know how one thing will fit with another or why even we might be doing some of the things that we are doing now.
We are both highly intentional people. We do not just do things just to do them, we have ideas, purpose and vision yet we feel lost, in limbo, waiting for the puzzle pieces to fit.
In the midst of all this we have to hope. And this hope is without details. We have no idea how things will come together or when they will (and we wonder if they will) we hope it does. Somehow, even if we cannot see it we hope that God, the Master weaver, will not leave any part of us out but will bring everything together. We have to hope based on God’s goodness which includes that He has not left us. We cannot see any details but we hope. We hope because God is good, He is loving and He is sovereign.
**Sit again for as long as is available to you.**
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Hoping is Hard
**Before you begin reading, sit
down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**
It is not always easy to hope. Even if you base your hope on God’s promises, hoping is difficult. Hope requires waiting, hope requires not knowing the answers, hope demands blindness. Hope requires that we trust over and over again. It requires that we believe that God is good and that He knows what He is doing.
Hoping is not only hard but hoping hurts. It hurts because we know God’s promises and have experienced some of them but we have not experienced all of them and may not until His second coming. So we hurt while we hope.
My friend Leighton Ford describes hope as “a strong and confident trust, given by the Holy Spirit and nurtured in life experience, that God, who has promised good to us and all creation, makes good on his promises through Jesus’ coming and coming again”. Yes, God makes good on His promises and it starts with Jesus’ first coming, His birth. We then wait, we wait and hope for His coming again.
It is not easy, but God has given us hope now through Jesus’ birth and we look forward to the thrill of hope with Jesus’ second coming.
It is not always easy to hope. Even if you base your hope on God’s promises, hoping is difficult. Hope requires waiting, hope requires not knowing the answers, hope demands blindness. Hope requires that we trust over and over again. It requires that we believe that God is good and that He knows what He is doing.
Hoping is not only hard but hoping hurts. It hurts because we know God’s promises and have experienced some of them but we have not experienced all of them and may not until His second coming. So we hurt while we hope.
My friend Leighton Ford describes hope as “a strong and confident trust, given by the Holy Spirit and nurtured in life experience, that God, who has promised good to us and all creation, makes good on his promises through Jesus’ coming and coming again”. Yes, God makes good on His promises and it starts with Jesus’ first coming, His birth. We then wait, we wait and hope for His coming again.
It is not easy, but God has given us hope now through Jesus’ birth and we look forward to the thrill of hope with Jesus’ second coming.
**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**
Friday, November 23, 2012
Waiting
**Before you begin reading, sit
down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**
The day after Thanksgiving, I can finally begin with the Christmas decorations! There is a strict rule (my husband’s) in our home that Christmas does not begin until after Thanksgiving. Honor the pilgrims! Although I moan and groan here and there about waiting, there is something about waiting and being patient for the time of Christmas.
Being patient is not easy, and I do not think it is supposed to be but I could either complain or pout until the day after Thanksgiving or I can enjoy the days and moments. Enjoying them as they are meant to be and wait for the day after Thanksgiving and the time in which Christmas begins being celebrated.
This happens in all our lives. We have seasons. We have seasons that are rich and full of life and other seasons that are dry and seemingly without life. We have seasons in which we wait and wait and others seasons where everything seems to be moving too fast.
I am often not patient in the difficult seasons. I often am complaining and pouting rather than enjoying the present as gifts, no matter how difficult they might be. I do not wait well.
How about you? What season are you in? How is your waiting? Do you trend towards complaining or towards embracing? My prayer is that whatever season you are in that you would have a heart of thanksgiving (and that I would too!).
The day after Thanksgiving, I can finally begin with the Christmas decorations! There is a strict rule (my husband’s) in our home that Christmas does not begin until after Thanksgiving. Honor the pilgrims! Although I moan and groan here and there about waiting, there is something about waiting and being patient for the time of Christmas.
Being patient is not easy, and I do not think it is supposed to be but I could either complain or pout until the day after Thanksgiving or I can enjoy the days and moments. Enjoying them as they are meant to be and wait for the day after Thanksgiving and the time in which Christmas begins being celebrated.
This happens in all our lives. We have seasons. We have seasons that are rich and full of life and other seasons that are dry and seemingly without life. We have seasons in which we wait and wait and others seasons where everything seems to be moving too fast.
I am often not patient in the difficult seasons. I often am complaining and pouting rather than enjoying the present as gifts, no matter how difficult they might be. I do not wait well.
How about you? What season are you in? How is your waiting? Do you trend towards complaining or towards embracing? My prayer is that whatever season you are in that you would have a heart of thanksgiving (and that I would too!).
**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Disneyworld
**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1
minute.**
Disneyworld. I sometimes (really, always) wish God would tell me what’s coming up. Why doesn’t He? Even a hint would be nice every now and then (really, always). There are plenty of deep, theological answers I could provide but an image came to my mind a few months ago when talking with a friend. Disneyworld. What if God doesn’t tell us where He is taking us because it is SO good that we wouldn’t be able to contain our excitement, we wouldn’t be able to focus on the present and we’d constantly be asking “Are we there yet?”. Maybe (really, guaranteed) He knows more than we do and out of grace and just plain wise parenting He is waiting to tell and show us. Maybe God’s taking you to Disneyworld!
**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**
Disneyworld. I sometimes (really, always) wish God would tell me what’s coming up. Why doesn’t He? Even a hint would be nice every now and then (really, always). There are plenty of deep, theological answers I could provide but an image came to my mind a few months ago when talking with a friend. Disneyworld. What if God doesn’t tell us where He is taking us because it is SO good that we wouldn’t be able to contain our excitement, we wouldn’t be able to focus on the present and we’d constantly be asking “Are we there yet?”. Maybe (really, guaranteed) He knows more than we do and out of grace and just plain wise parenting He is waiting to tell and show us. Maybe God’s taking you to Disneyworld!
**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**
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