In the Time of the Lattereign

It’s difficult to wait on God, when we are closely involved in the outcome, but that is what we are supposed to do. The bible promises us in Isaiah 40:31,  ³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

So, I’ve often wondered about what happens to those who don’t wait on God. Do they renew their strength? More likely, people who take matters into their own hands, instead of waiting for God to go before them and clear the way, suffer unnecessarily because they refuse to follow God’s divine order for their lives.

How can they rise above the storms of life, when they are so focused on the storm?

Instead, they drag through their day, desperately intent on carrying the burdens that were not meant for them to carry. People who haven’t learned to trust in the Lord with their cares, are destined to live their lives overwhelmed and defeated.

It’s unfortunate, really, when you think about how some people risk missing out on having peace of mind, just so they can maintain the control over their circumstances, instead of trusting God to work all things out for their good. 

It’s good to wait on the Lord. There are benefits to following his will, because he has already gone before us to make the way.

Sometimes His Answer is to Wait

Sometimes you have to go, when you don’t feel like going, speak when you don’t feel like speaking; pray, when you don’t feel like praying; sing when you don’t feel like singing; trust, when you don’t see how it could ever work out; encourage yourself, when there’s no one else who is willing to do it, hold your head high, when you feel more like crumpling in sorrowful weeping; smile, while you are hiding the emotional upheaval in your life.

Sometimes everyone else reaps the benefits of prayer. Stay encouraged, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever; keep moving forward, your answers are on their way.  We can’t afford to let down our guard, and become vulnerable to the attacks of Satan. His time is short, and the only power he has, is the power given to him by God, so he can’t overtake us unless God allows it for our good, so I choose to move onward.

Onward

I will follow where he leads me,

through the valleys and the hills

I will trust Him for there’s no other

who can all my needs fulfill

In sickness and in health

he’s my strength and my song,

In life’s battles, He’s my shield;

In my weakness, He is strong.

Oh, when all the world’s against me,

my ideas and my plans

I know that he’ll lead me through it, and

Teach me how to stand.

Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name

In Memory of all the saints who have made it home.

My time you may think has ended and the enemy won;

But in Jesus name, not so, my life has just begun.

In death, I have gained life everlasting; there is no defeat in me

The final battle for my soul has been fought; Jesus has won the victory.

When sorrow passes, then, you will sing:

Glory, Hallelujah to Christ the King!

He maketh my bones to rejoice at last;

My worship, my praise, my longing for a future, now past.

Glory, Hallelujah, Omnipotent King;

The only wise potentate that’s why I can sing.

For he has redeemed me; be bought me with his blood;

He has kept me through the fire, sickness and flood.

When I was rejected by common man;

He offered me love by extending his hand

To even me, who once rejected the love he showed;

By going on my own; carrying my own heavy load.

Of burdens and trials all unresolved;

Still he waited for me to give him my all.

When I finally lifted up my hands in sweet surrender

He took the weight of my past and gave me peace so tender.

Jesus–He is yesterday, today, forever the same.

Yesterday, he loved us, and today, his love hasn’t changed.

Tomorrow, he will love us; our souls he has claimed.

Repent and be baptized in Jesus’ Name–

It’s the only way to experience New Birth

He promises the Gift of the Holy Ghost and his power

if you will yield to his will and his way this very hour.

then, you will have a name above all others you wear,

Without it, you can’t come to this place, prepared.

For only those who have the mark of his blood

On their soul have invitation there.

This gospel works will you seek him today?

He waits to give you a new life of prayer.

Great is the Mystery

Several years back we went to the Kansas Underground Salt Museum. The pictures above show an IBM System 38 Computer, and it’s storage capacity and the cost. Just one mistake cost employees three months to re-scan paper original documents. After studying these pictures, I realize that we have certainly come a long way in technology.

It used to be that we didn’t mind waiting for a home cooked meal, or a handcrafted gift, because we knew that time was invested in each act of kindness that we usually took for granted when we were younger. Then, fast food made it’s debut, and we became an impatient society unable to wait for more than sixty seconds for our order to be filled, (usually the only way for this to happen was if the food had been cooked earlier, and kept warm under a light. As a consequence, the food quality was often compromised.)

We have grown used to accepting second best in everything that we have and desire. A cry that I often hear is, “I might as well accept this, because that’s just the way it is, and there’s nothing that I can do about it.”  Maybe, it’s time for us to not accept less than God’s best for our lives. Why treasure the rags we have, when the Lord desires to bless us with riches? Riches take many forms; you can be rich in love, acceptance, hope, the fruits of the spirit, friends, family, and the list goes on, but do we really anticipate that God would consider blessing us?

Maybe, you are more demanding of God’s blessings. You expect God to fulfill your prayer order, immediately, when the Lord expects us to wait. If you planted an apple seed, it would be ludicrous to expect an apple tree to pop up out of the ground, instantaneously, like the beanstalk in the fairy tale, “Jack and the Beanstalk;” but, we hate waiting for answers to prayer. The more I live for God, the more I have learned that the time of waiting is a precious time that we can build a relationship with Jesus Christ. Are we so demanding and inconsiderate that we forget to talk to God, when all he wants is to hear our voice? If we ever ignored someone, it wouldn’t take too long before they would get concerned that we were angry with them.

When you are in a season of waiting, remember that obtaining God’s best, requires being ready to receive it, and that doesn’t happen unless we perfect the art of waiting for God’s perfect timing to fulfill his purpose in our lives.  There’s an Art to Waiting

There’s something about this time of year after a long difficult winter season, that gives us hope that we can move forward. In the past week, or so, we have been able to get outside, and that in itself is a major blessing, after being confined to extra blankets all winter.

We managed to take it all in stride, and after much prayer that the winter would end, it happened. It is more than likely that we will have forgotten how challenging winter was on us, within the next few weeks of warm weather.

We are supposed to be thankful for everything that happens to us, both the good and the not so good, and when the stormy seasons occur in our lives, we can have peace. Does that mean that our circumstances will change? Not always, because God knows where he is leading us, and even enduring the more hurtful times in our lives is part of the process to get us to where the Lord would have us to be.

There is hope beyond our present circumstances; and springtime will always occur after the dead of winter. We may need to clear away some things from our lives, but rest assured, there is new life pushing up through the soil.

God has not forgotten us, he promises that he will never leave us or forsake us. The unfruitful things in our lives will be cleared away so that newness can spring forth and bring us hope and joy.

It’s time to clear away all obstacles, that  may have crept into our lives, and renew our vision for spiritual growth.

Courageous and Consistent Faith