Waiting On God

Maybe you have been walking with God and growing in the Lord and you are doing great, you are experiencing for the first time in a long time (or maybe ever) the freedom of not only a newly created life in Christ but the freedom from addiction you have longed for—but now you are waiting for the next steps in your walk with Him. Maybe God has shown you some of the new path you will walk down but the door has not yet been opened, you are waiting on God’s timing and direction.

Sometimes we are waiting on God and something new to happen in our life and it can be a real test to go through especially (as I sometimes say) if you are new to the family of God. We have to learn to trust Him and seek Him and His word during times of waiting. The waiting has purpose.

When you think you know the direction you should be moving in and you haven’t yet been told by God to move you must remember that God has an absolute perfect plan. He isn’t putting us through trials and tests because He likes to see us suffer and He isn’t making us wait simply to see if we can—I mean, of course, if He wants us to wait, wait is what we will do, but there is a perfect and spiritual reason for the waiting process and it isn’t just to develop our patience, it is also to put His plan for us into motion at the right time involving the right people and places. Our plans don’t ever just involve us; they involve the plans of others too.

     

It can be difficult to trust God and sometimes waiting can feel or seem like you are doing “nothing”, but during those times you can seek God and pray and ask Him for His divine guidance. His word tells us in Proverbs 4:2 (NLT), “For I am giving you good guidance. Don’t turn away from my instructions.” Thank God for His wonderful living word (Hebrews 4:12) which gives us the answers we so desperately need while we journey from this strange land to our home in heaven. Remember that “…Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” Philippians 3:20 (NKJV). His word also tells us in James 1:3-4 (NKJV), “…The testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Patience, if we let it, will do a “perfect work” in us and that makes the waiting worth it.

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV).

Pursue patience (1Timothy 6:11) and know that God hasn’t put you aside or become too busy with someone else and left you to wonder what you should do next. Once again it comes down to knowing just how wide and how deep His love for us actually is and then we can know that He isn’t leaving us to be the God of another.  For our God is omnipotent which means He can save, help, love, guide and correct all of us at the same time and never once lose sight of or heart for any of us. This intense measure of God’s love is described in the following verses from Ephesians 3:18-19 (NIV), “May (you) have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” If this love surpasses knowledge (which is acquired and known in our intellect and our minds) but we can be full with it, then it can only be known spiritually.

 This is what you do while waiting on God—you embrace and soak up His great love and get to know Him.

      Getting to know Him is to understand His nature and it is not to make us suffer, wait, or endure hardship for an unknown or unnecessary reason. Yes, the reason might be unknown to us but I assure you the purpose is not unnecessary. Some people really do have a distorted view of God and why we go through the things we do. It is one of the many things I have been set free from and I finally met my God, the God who would rather love me than watch me suffer— I once believed it was the other way around. Sometimes it takes us realizing that what we might feel is suffering is not necessarily considered suffering in God’s eyes. We have to remember that He knows our big picture, our end result, our finished faith. Trust Him.  

      If we can imagine God sitting on His throne demanding everything go His way just because He is God and He said so—then we can just as easily imagine Him working lovingly on our behalf to make sure all of the pieces to our newly created life in Him fit together just as He planned for them to and just as His word tells us. I know for some this may be hard and because we come from dysfunctional families (all are, to some degree) we can have a hard time seeing God as the loving Father that He is, but let’s imagine and believe that God is the loving and caring Father that He is and know that everything He does He planned before we were ever created and He not only knows what to do, when to do it but He knows what is best for us. It literally tells us this in 2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT), “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.”

 Isn’t that what we are in this for, to live out God’s great plan for our lives? After all, when we pursued our own plans we fell prey to addiction/sin and the bondage that goes with it, our plans don’t work for our good they work to destroy us. Take God at His word, and He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If the One and Only Living God has plans to give us a future with His prosperity and hope then let’s be patient enough to wait on Him to put these wonderful plans into motion for our benefit and not our harm.

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Why Me, Lord?

 

    

     How many times have you asked Him that question? Was it a single question or a string of them rolled into one? What I mean is, were you asking Him why you had to suffer the things you have in life or were you asking Him why you didn’t get or don’t have the things you think you want in life? Were you asking Him because you wanted to receive something from Him or because you wanted Him to take something away from you?

     We seem to always be asking for something and sometimes when we get or receive what we think we wanted we realize as soon as we receive it that we didn’t really want it after all. Why is that I wonder? Is it because when we were in the asking mode we were not seeking the will and the plan of God?

     If we knew all that God had planned for us in His great tapestry of things and if we could see just a little bit of what God has in store for us we might not ever ask for anything again unless God was telling us directly to ask Him. He does tell us to ask in His Son’s name and we will receive (John 16:23), but what God means is that we ask according to His will and purpose (1 John 5:14). Knowing His will and purpose requires that we have a close and intimate relationship with Him.

     When we pursue a close and intimate relationship with Jesus we begin to see and realize that the things we used to think we wanted from the Lord aren’t even legitimate requests or wants because we now see that what we should be asking for are the things which will bring what He wants for our lives.

     This new life in Christ is going to bring new desires and wants, but sometimes it takes us a little while to realize that and at first we may still, even if just emotionally, think we want the things of the past. We might think now that we have healed and been set free that we can handle or have certain things in our life that we couldn’t before and that might cause us to ask the whys—why can’t I do it or have it now, Lord? I am stronger and I can handle it now.

      If we’re not careful we can start to lose track of what God has brought us out of and we can even forget (unimaginable, but true), how bad our life was before we surrendered it to Him and let Him deliver us from the bondage of addiction and all the yuck and consequences that come from living that kind of life. How do I know? Sadly I know from personal experience and it is not something I am proud of, but as I always say there is no waste with God so He will use even our backsliding away from Him for His glory and to teach us a lesson. What is the lesson? We cannot do life on our own and we especially cannot do this newly created life on our own, and as soon as we try we will fall!    

     Let’s begin to ask God what should my desires be and how should I pursue them? What are Your wants, goals and desires for me, Lord? These are the questions which God will answer in His great and glorious way and when we get those answers we need to grab onto them, pursue them just as tenaciously as we did our addictions and that lifestyle and watch God change us from the inside out.

    

     We may be going along and doing very well in our walk with God and this new life He has given us, but if we don’t seek Him and what He wants for us we can get tripped up and deceived (yes, deceived) into thinking we don’t need God anymore or at least not as much as we did at first. We might think I don’t use drugs or alcohol anymore; I don’t look at pornography or engage in lewdness or fornication anymore so why do I still need so much of God in my life?  Maybe I only need Him on Sunday mornings when I go to church or maybe I only need Him when I am in a serious crisis—but not all the time. After all I am better now and I don’t do the things I once did. This is a very dangerous mind and heart-set to get into and it is one I guarantee will lead you right back to a life of destruction if you aren’t careful and recognize it when it comes and get your heart and your mind back where they need to be.

     The world has a different answer than God and His kingdom and it is one that says you must be independent and self-reliant and you must learn to handle everything on your own, that way you can escape the pain of others hurting you (or so we think), and you don’t have to answer to anyone except yourself. But there is nothing in God’s word, ways or kingdom that ever tells us we are to do anything on our own, in fact, God doesn’t like it when we ignore Him and try to do things on our own. He considers that seeking something before Him and it is a form of idolatry and or worshiping or relying on someone or something more than we do Him.

     Our whys to God need to be more in the tone of, why did you save a wretch like me? And why do I get to know the healing power of Jesus Christ while others are still bound in their addiction? Or why are You so merciful and good to me God? And why was I chosen to be used by God Almighty in this special way? And then resolve in our hearts and minds that we don’t deserve any of it, but we are grateful to Him that He has done it for us and brought us to where we are in our life.

     I have said this before, but it bears repeating, you cannot maintain your freedom from addiction and your new life in Christ without Him being the center and the Lord of every area of your life! The whys are a manifestation of our heart condition and our closeness to God. If we are asking why we haven’t reached a new level or season in Him and it is His will that we do, He will answer our whys, but if our whys are asking something like—woe is me, why am I always suffering or not getting what I want in life then He might not answer except to show you that those are not the things or whys He is concerned with answering.

     We may be asking why we have to face the trials and struggles we are facing right now in our life, but everything we go through has a godly purpose and reason and we don’t always need to know the why. Sometimes we just need to know that NOTHING we go through is ever in vain—even if it is a mistake or misstep He will use it for His glory so we should keep our hearts and our minds focused on Him and His whys and wants for us.

     God’s whys are so different from ours—they are as such, why don’t you trust Me with every area of your life, and why don’t you seek only Me for your answers? And why do you think I have left you without answers to your questions? Or why do you think your questions are more important than mine?

     Maybe one way we can begin to change the questions we ask God is to understand and remember that we are now living this new life in Him and He wants only the best for us and He never means us harm. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) tells us “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If we really take hold of that scripture and live everyday like we believe it and it is the key to our future, I believe we can stop asking our whys and start asking what. What is our part in His great plans to prosper and not harm us, His great plans to give us the future we didn’t have before we let Him deliver us and set us free?  

     The answer to our question, “Why me, Lord?” can be answered this way—Jesus says to each of us no matter what the actual or underlying question is, “You ask, ‘why me, Lord?’, and I answer you—because I love you, I gave My life for you, I have great plans for you and I know what is best for you—that’s why.”

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FORGIVENESS: Understanding The Reason For Your Pain

There are issues of forgiveness in my life--both receiving and reciprocating it. There, I said it, now let me explain…

      I know that forgiveness is a choice, but I believe that is the first step in a “process” of forgiveness. I don’t think you can just suddenly find a place in your heart for forgiveness that wasn’t already there. You have to clean your heart out and make room for this new thing of forgiveness, think about that for a minute, because you had something in your heart for whoever you need to forgive and if it wasn’t forgiveness and love then you need to get rid of whatever it was and make room for the “new” thing you are going to let fill your heart about that person. You also have to clear out a place of love for the person you have forgiven, and that is going to be a process, and you are going to need the help of Jesus. This is where that old cliché rings true, it is easier said than done. It is possible though, and we must forgive others as God has forgiven us.

     In Matthew 6:9 Jesus begins teaching how we should pray and in The Lord’s Prayer verse 12 He says, ”And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Down in verses 14 and 15 Jesus tells us that if we forgive we will be forgiven; if we don’t forgive we will not be forgiven. I think forgiveness is a serious enough issue that it needs to be lasting and active in our hearts.

      I think people believe they have forgiven when, in fact, they have not.  Forgiveness is an issue with more people than would probably be willing to admit, but for those of us with addiction in our past we have a hard time because the hurt others inflicted on us is the very root of our being drawn to an addiction in the first place. We were seeking something we didn’t get from important, impactful people in our lives and the hurt made us look for it in an external way even though the hurt was not external, it was and is internal. This is why The Answer is Jesus inside of us!

       It can also be the reason we seem to forgive and to take it back.

     I have what I consider relapses in forgiveness. Walking in forgiveness and all its wonderful glory one month (week or day) and wallowing in the shame and guilt of my past, and the anger of those who have hurt me the next. In other words, giving up my own already paid for forgiveness and rescinding any forgiveness I have already given to those who have hurt me. Now, this is not physically happening (I’m not telling anyone I no longer forgive them), but it is something that is taking place spiritually in my heart. This is why I think that the process of forgiving works better than just choosing to forgive.

      It took time and a process to hurt you, and it took time and a process for you to become damaged and broken from that hurt so it makes sense that giving this over to God is a process. He can do whatever needs to be done in a split second, but He knows that we need a process in order for it to become effective, active and lasting.

     Even our salvation is a process. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) says, “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” That part of the verse suggests to me that there is a process we will go through to “work out our salvation”. Our salvation is not a onetime thing it is a journey that we now travel with Jesus and the Holy Spirit inside of us and the destination is heaven where God the Father waits and longs for us. I do not mean that we can obtain our salvation through works, we cannot. I am saying that once we are saved it doesn't stop there, the journey goes on and there is a final destination.

     Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting we treat forgiveness as something we can give and take back and we are told that we must forgive even as our Father has forgiven us, but if we really do it in our hearts and not just with our mouths then it has to be done by understanding what the hurt has done and that it has caused the pain in our lives ultimately to bring us and glory to God!

      When we see that our pain even though caused and inflicted by someone else is the reason we came to God, we can, instead of holding anger and hate for them, actually begin to even be thankful to them, for without our testimony of what God saved us out of (the pain they inflicted) we would not know our Savior and we would not know the power of being set free and now the purpose of being used for His kingdom! 

     Everything with God and the “new” He does in us is supposed to change us from deep within so that we are indeed becoming “new creations in Him” and that what is happening in us is not only active and lasting so that we have an abundantly blessed life in Him, but that others see what He is doing in us and they can’t deny His power—at least in our life, even if they don’t want it for themselves. Someday they will.

                                                                                                           

      When Jesus went to the cross so that we could be forgiven it was not some light thing He just made a choice to do. First of all, that was the very reason He was born, to die for us, but as the time to actually give His life up for us was drawing nearer He asked God the Father if there was any way at all that He might not have to actually go through with it, Matthew 26:39 (NKJV), “He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” Our Savior, “fell on His face” in distress and sorrow over what was about to happen to Him so that we could receive AND give forgiveness. It is serious!

     So how do we obtain and maintain forgiveness in our hearts and lives? Well, here’s what God has been showing me in my heart.

      I am referring to forgiveness from and for serious life issues, I am not referring to, for instance, someone took your usual seat at church and you got irritated with them and since last Sunday you have been snubbing them, they probably aren’t even aware of it and you bringing it up now will likely, only cause serious issues between you both— besides, those are the kind of issues that should be a quick and simple choice to forgive, they don’t need a process, they have not caused long term damage, and forgive these right away so that they don’t become bigger issues. I am talking about forgiveness for someone in your life who caused you some serious and deep pain and what you think is long term damage. God will show you it is not long term damage anymore! He is about to set you free!  

     Let’s say you have now made a choice to begin the process of forgiveness—will the decision be to now love them or just not think terrible, yes even hateful thoughts about them anymore or will it be to not think about them at all?  I asked God, what is the answer here? My heart got this—of course you ultimately want love to reign in your heart and God will honor that you have begun the “process” of forgiveness, because your heart is now in the state of readiness to forgive.  

     Ask Him to begin to really give you a love for that person and an understanding of their damage and pain. Hurt people, hurt people.   Even if you are aware of someone’s issues in life and what kind of damage and pain they have endured you do not know the extent of how deeply someone might be or has been hurt. Only God Himself knows just how deeply we have been wounded because He is the one who is going to heal our brokenness. A good start is to ask Him to give you an understanding that those who have hurt and harmed you have also suffered at the hands of another.

     There is purpose in pain. Kahlil Gibran wrote in his book, The Prophet, “…And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable.” This is so true; we can’t enjoy the one without having experienced the other. We would not even know how to embrace joy if we had not endured sorrow.

     So if we can now look at our pain differently we can begin to look differently at those who were or are involved in causing or inflicting it.

     How boring and dull would this world be if there were no wounded people? Think about that, we all have pain and some degree of dysfunction in us and each one of us have a story to tell of how God is changing the pain of our past and making it into His beautiful story of redemption and creating in us the creations He always intended us to be. That my friend is exciting news—because we are part of God Almighty’s Destiny and there is nothing boring or dull about God and His plans! 

     Once we realize this we can begin to ask God the true purpose for the pain in our past because there is a purpose for it, I assure you that you did not suffer in vain. It is part of this wonderful plan that He has for your life and He will use your pain to heal someone else’s—that is just how God works. I don’t know about you, but that makes me (and the pain of my past) seem very special to God and His overall plan!

      I wanted to make sure that we all understand that forgiving as our Father forgave is the kind of forgiveness that will need His power active and lasting in us. He forgave us and offered up His Son for our forgiveness—not one of us could or would give up a child for anyone or anything!   

                                                                             

     I think we should talk more about pain and forgiveness, but I don’t want to overwhelm anyone—myself included. Remember I said in the beginning that I have my own issues with forgiveness so these are steps I’m taking and a process I am going through with some people in my own life. But, the good news is the Good News and Jesus is with me (and you) every step of the way.

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