Wait upon the Lord

 

I think the phrase that has brought the devil out of the proverbial closet more than anything else in my life is when my answer to questions was, "God has told me to wait." Phrases Kim and I know well are something like as follows: "You are not using your gifts." (Yes, I am. I am using them how I feel God convicted me to use them. I am waiting.) "You just laid down and quit!" (No, I did not. I am waiting.) "Waiting for what??? Do you know how old you are getting to be? What are you doing?" (I'm waiting.) "Go market this!" (No, I'm waiting.) "Send these to ________." (No, I am staying clear of that intentionally, and ...  I'm waiting.) Some of the "waiting" looked like turning down what appeared to be insane offers and "opportunities" because we could find zero peace with going forward. We would immediately run into sermons that said WAIT!!! and know that was exactly for us.

In the waiting, God gave me a lot of answers I never would have seen otherwise. In the waiting, God showed me what man valued versus what He valued. In the waiting, God taught me to trust His timing and realize that He could absolutely Hebrews 11 me, and it would be okay. I hoped it would not look like that, but I became okay with it 100%. He showed me who was for me and who I was blind to. He taught me to stand in conviction and so many things with so many stories, I could go on for hours.

When God makes you wait, you will see things differently. It will change your heart to want different things. You will see things that, as the adage goes, "They will break your heart, but open your eyes." It will cost you on levels you cannot imagine. But it will break you, teach you, humble you, and allow space for God to show things you could not even imagine were possible. It will check your motives, it will expose your fears and weaknesses, who your friends are (and are not), and do so much more than human versions of success ever could.