4 Things You Can Do While You're Waiting On God

So I’m feeling a little grouchy this morning.  Ok maybe stabby is a better word for it.  All I know is that I’ve had two cups of coffee already and that’s not even touching it. This may be a job for a Chick Fil A milkshake.  I swear the secret ingredient in those things is crack…

I know what my problem is…

I’m waiting.  Impatiently.  Waiting for God to open a door.  Any door.  Please. 

I hate waiting. Don’t you?  

I don't think I've ever in my life heard someone say, “Ya know, I just love waiting in line!” or “I am so excited to wait for the next big thing to happen in my life!”  And if I ever did hear someone actually say those things, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't hang.  Have you ever felt like an airplane that has to circle the tarmac for what seems like forever before it can take off?  That’s how I feel right now.

Waiting on God is one of the hardest things for me. I’m fully aware that I’m impatient and usually want things to happen yesterday.  People will tell me it’s all in His timing, and I get that.  But for goodness sake, could His timing be my timing just once?!  For a type-A person like me, waiting for God to open a door somewhere (anywhere!) can be excruciating.  I wonder if you’ve ever been there too?

So I’m going to preach to myself and hope this applies to you too ;)

Here’s four things you can do while you’re waiting on God…

1. Go to the word of God.  Isaiah 40:31 says, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  In other translations the word “hope” is “wait”.  This struck me as interesting.  When I think of waiting I think of drudgery.  I think of getting my driver’s license renewed at the DMV; two hours of my life I’ll never get back, and a horrible picture of myself to commemorate the occasion for the next four years.  Kill me now.  But when I think of hope, I think of a positive expectancy, an excitement for what’s to come. Merriam Webster defines hope as this: to desire with expectation of obtainment, to expect with confidence.  I love that.  So often we’re looking for hope in all the wrong places, if you will. But what Isaiah says here is that when we place our expectation with confidence, our hope, in the Lord that He will renew our strength.  Thank you God for that!  We will wear ourselves out hoping in ourselves or our abilities.  We have to remember where we should be placing our hope.  Not in man, not in ourselves, but in Him.  Which leads me to my next point beautifully…

2. Resist the urge to make things happen.  Oh I hate this one. This is what I do!  This is how I roll!  I love to take matters in my own hands and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!  Like I did four weeks ago…I got tired of waiting for God to open a door for me and decided to try my hat at doing hair again.  Why not?- I reasoned.  I’m not doing anything else anyway so what could it hurt?  Me.  It could hurt me.  And it did.  I found myself numb and in pain all at the same time for weeks afterward, and I took what felt like four steps back in my recovery.  My body wasn't ready and likely never will be again.  Sometimes we think we can handle that thing and we just aren't ready. Had I waited on the Lord instead of trying to kick a door open for myself I could have saved myself a lot of pain and frustration.  God knew I wasn't ready but I didn't want to listen.  Lesson learned.  Sometimes a closed door is just as good as an open door. 

3. Pick up that thing right in front of you.  Do you have a home?  Good.  Go clean it.  Do you have kids?  Good.  Go feed them. Or in my case, do you have a blog??  Good.  Go write it!  So often we miss out on what’s right in front of us because we’re so focused on what’s ahead.  Maybe God knows you won’t be able to handle that next big thing if you can’t even handle your household right now and wants you to take care of that first.  Or maybe He knows that if He gave you what you’re asking Him for right now that your marriage wouldn't survive it.  Go back to the basics.  What areas of your life do you need to work on?  Are you taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually?  Are you caring for your husband, family, or home well?  Do you need to get back on track with your finances?  Whatever it is, go do it.  If we’re faithful in the small things, he’ll give us bigger things.

     A couple of weeks ago I decided to put this to the test.  I thought, ok fine.  If I’m going to be  stuck here at home all day with no job and nothing to do then I guess I can treat my home like it’s my job and go deep clean the bathroom today and work at it as unto the Lord blah blah blah… I was less than enthused.  But the most amazing thing happened.  As I was scrubbing the shower, and the floors, and the walls, God brought person after person to my mind.  Even some people that I forgot existed!  I found myself praying for each and every person God brought to my mind, and I found myself renewed in the process.  That’s so like Him isn't it?  

4. PRAY.  Pray that thing through, whatever it is.  

Pray for peace and patience in the waiting.  

   

Pray that you’ll learn every thing God wants to show you during this time of wait.

  

Pray and ask God to show you how to wait well. 

Pray and ask God for encouragement- maybe directly from His word or from a friend.  

Pray for wisdom and discernment for when He does open a door.

Find someone else to pray for!  Be an encouragement to someone else! 

You guys, I really hope this helps.  I know it’s helping me.  I’m feeling slightly less grouchy with every word I type.  But I still want a Chick Fil A milkshake.  I feel good about making that happen.

What are you waiting on God for?  I’ll pray for you if you’ll pray for me?  Leave me a comment telling me what you’re waiting for and we can expect God with confidence together :)

Till next time…

Where The Heck Have I Been??

Hey there!  Remember me?  I'm the chick who writes on this blog…or at least I was…  I know it’s been awhile and some of you have been asking me, “Where’s your blog??” and I really haven't had a good answer for you.  Some of my absence can be attributed to circumstances, and some of it just not.  So here’s what I’ve been up to…

Most of you know I had major surgery this spring for thoracic outlet syndrome. Feel free to insert “blah blah blah” or vomiting noises here.  Truly, I'm just as tired of talking about it as you probably are of hearing about it.  This surgery really kicked my butt. 

Road trip back down to Baltimore for my follow up appointment at

 Johns Hopkins Univ. Hospital this summer.  Alex looks thrilled.

And just when I think I’m all “back to normal”  my recovery takes two steps back.  It’s been extremely frustrating for me.  Apparently I don't believe the rules apply to me, so when my surgeon told me that it will take a full year to recover from this I just kinda brushed off that notion and expected to be able to work again doing hair in five months time.  No. Such. Luck.  In fact I’ve found that doing hair works in direct opposition to my recovery and really won’t be something I can ever go back to.  So I guess I’d better learn a new skill!  How about writing…??

I have been writing once a month for our church’s blog, which I’ve really enjoyed, but haven’t been writing much here. I’ve been wrestling with some serious questions.  Brace yourself and I’ll walk you through my neurosis…

1. Does my voice, my thoughts, my words, improve the silence or just add more noise?  The internet is a noisy place, y’all.  I'm sure you know that.  So I’ve spent some time wondering if it’s even worth it to add my voice to it.  Who cares?  I’m just a mom and housewife from PA.  Why should anyone listen to me?  Which lead me to my next question… 
2. What if I put my words out there and no one reads them?  What if no one cares what I have to say?  I am a perfectionist, so my natural thought process is this-  If I can’t have the most amazing blog in the world with the most riveting content and the most followers ever in the history of the internet, then I’d rather not do it.  Go big or go home.  So I went home.

Which leads me to my third reason for dropping y’all like a Hot Pocket…

3.  My kids were home for the summer.  I LOVE having my kids home.  In fact I try to talk them into homeschooling just about every year before they go back to school.  But alas, they love school and really thrive there.  There are worse problems to have.  And they provided a very convenient excuse not to write.

                                           Are they just ridiculously adorable or what?

But here’s what I’ve concluded in my time away…

• So what?  So what if my surgery knocked me on my butt?  I need to get back up.  And when my recovery takes two steps back, I need to remember all the steps I’ve taken forward.

• So what if no one listens to me?  I’ve been told that God has given me a gift for writing.  I'm not quite sure I buy this idea yet, but if He has then I owe it to Him to explore it, develop it, and use it for His glory.

• Perfectionism is really just fear.  Ugh.  I don't even like typing those words let alone processing them.  I allowed fear to creep in and tell me I'm not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, I don't have enough skills, or drive to produce something worthwhile.  And while some of that may or may not be true, I’m giving myself permission to explore this imperfectly.  Not a huge commitment to make a full time career out of blogging, just the freedom to experiment a little, dabble a little, and have fun with it.  So now that I’m cool with that, are you?  I may not always have the most amazing images or the most riveting content, but it will always be authentically me- that much I can promise.  

So my question for you is this: what is it you’re holding yourself back from exploring?  You didn’t really think I’d write a blog post and not turn it back on you, did you??  I’m serious though.  What is something you’ve wanted to try but your perfectionistic, do-it-all-or-do-nothing-at-all attitude has been keeping you from doing?  (A 90's boy band song just popped into my head.  You too?)  What gifts have others seen in you that you haven't had the courage to develop?  You really have nothing to lose.  Give yourself permission to try.  Give yourself permission to fail.  Give yourself permission to succeed wildly.