Pearl of the Day: Hurry Up and Wait

 As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. ~Henry David Thoreau

"I will be so glad when ______!" (Fill in the blank)  Do you find yourself saying things like that?  I do that more often than I would like to admit, especially when going through a very long waiting season.  The longer I have to wait, the harder it is for me to keep a positive attitude because I start struggling with doubt.  It seems to be much more difficult to keep our attitude and our heart in the right place when we are walking through the dry, parched desert.  The longer we have to wait, the more likely it is that we will start doubting, and complaining.  We can sometimes be like the Children of Israel when God led them into the desert after Pharaoh let them go.  They started doubting God's faithfulness when things didn't go their way and they had to wait, which in turn led them to start complaining.  They actually wanted to go back to Egypt, back to being a slave, when they started getting tired and thirsty, when they couldn't see how things were going to work out.  When we can't see how, or we can't see when, we start feeling like God has forgotten us.  God has not forgotten you, my friend.  He knows exactly where you are.  He sometimes leads us into a season of waiting because He is doing something deeper than what we can see with our human eyes, or understand with our human minds.  God is faithful.  He will do what He has promised.  God didn't lead His people into the desert for them to give up and die, He led them there because He wanted to do something deeper in them.  He wanted to test their hearts to see if they would remain faithful, even when they had to wait.  Waiting is not easy, especially when we live in a society that thrives on instant gratification.  We want what we want, and we want it now.  I have learned, through much fighting and stubbornness, when I'm in a waiting season, that is when God is doing something greater than I could ever imagine.  God is working things out for my best.  He is doing a deeper work that requires time and patience.  It requires me to wait.  Will we stand at the shore of our "Red Sea" and wait to see God part the waters for us to walk through, or will we turn back and remain a slave to our doubts?  Will we choose to remain faithful in the waiting season, even when we feel doubt trying to overpower us?  Don't put off enjoying your life each day because you're waiting for a specific thing to happen first.  Rejoice in each day God gives you, even while you're in the waiting season.  Before long you will look back and see how faithful God was to work things out for your best.  Until next time my friends, be blessed! 

"Don't fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." ~Philippians 4:6-7 (MSG)