In The Waiting
What is God asking you to wait for? How are you dealing with his command to wait? Notice how I said command there instead of request? A command infers submission, to which we are required to abide in if we are to truly live our most abundant lives.
This past year, I have experienced more loss than I care to walk through, but God has a plan for it all. Some of this loss has been in the form of something physical like death, while other aspects of this loss include the loss of an idea/desire, to which the loss is more emotional than anything else. Regardless, I have to ask myself, what is my response to the loss? What has yours been in seasons of grief?
For those who struggle with anxiety, your response to the loss and/or grief may feel misunderstood. Though everyone processes differently, when I first started writing this post, I couldn't help but feel so alone in my struggle. I think that’s exactly where the enemy wants us to be though; believing the lie that we are alone. The truth is this, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8)." We are not alone.
Sometimes I feel anxious about mine or someone else’s sin (John 9:1-3), the result of living in a fallen world (John 16:33), or simply as the result of something satanic (2 Timothy 3:12).
Despite this truth, not to diminish it because scripture is the most powerful tool and truth that we have, I just want to take a moment to be real. So in reality, at times I’m mad, upset, misunderstood, anxious, and just down right frustrated. I can’t see an end to some of the things that are causing the anxieties and frustrations in my life. Some of these things are from just last week, while others go back to last year. I want to be all knowing so I can see how it all plays out… but leave it to God, in the midst of all these annoying feelings, He had me in a study last week all about how incomprehensible He is and why that’s a good thing.
How does knowing the truth about God change the way you live your life? Despite the anxiety and my natural tendency to beat myself up over the smallest mistakes, reminding myself of these truths help: He is not only a good God, but He is also for my good… He works everything for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He can stop anything and everything, yet He chooses not to at times (Job 1 -2) because in the end, it’s somehow all working out to bring Himself glory.
God is about God and at the same exact time, He allows us to be a part of Himself. As Jen Wilkin states it in her book, None Like Him… “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known. It is the joyful duty, the delightful task of his children to spend their lives, both this one and the next, discovering who he is. According to Jesus, knowing God is the fundamental aim of life…”
John 17:3, “and this is eternal life, that they mat know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” How are you working to grow in your knowledge of God? If you’re being honest, are you doing this with pleasure or distress? What does it look like to allow the distress to become pleasurable? For me, it looks like getting my eyes off myself and onto God. The things I’m walking through are ultimately things to grow me into the image of His son. Without the biggest and smallest hurdles in “My world”, without the waiting, I wouldn’t be working these things out. I wouldn’t understand HOW to be about God verses myself.
I'll start to wrap up with one more quote by Jen Wilkin, because this statement contradicts everything we learn in the world and it's given me something to chew on this week... "Sanctification is the process of learning increasing dependence (on Christ), not autonomy."
Did you catch that? It's not about just figuring it out on your own and doing better. It's about surrendering it all to Jesus and realizing your need for Him both now and in eternity. The more we realize our need for Christ, the more we grow.
There has been a lot of popularity around a book called, Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I just have to take a moment to say, this book preaches a false gospel. It's, "I love Jesus but (fill in the blank)." Sure, Mrs. Hollis seems successful and maybe she got there without surrendering everything to Christ, but this life is temporary and that kind of fame will not last in the end.
For my readers, I just want you to be careful with a mentality that presents a stipulation with loving Jesus, because the most abundant life is found in this... "I love Jesus so I (fill in the blank)."
