Hearing in the Waiting

 

Waiting is not for the faint of heart.  Our world today, with all that we have at our fingertips to gain immediacy, waiting seems to be a ‘waste of time’ and stops us from being our most productive selves.  Think about this for a brief moment.  When we wait for the circle in the middle of our computer screens as it searches for the website we want, we can get frustrated.  When we wait for the traffic light that did not cycle appropriately and we need to wait for the ‘next’ light to make a turn, we can get frustrated.  When we wait for the person’s order in front of us to be completed at the local coffee shop because they ordered the grande flavored latte, but with a number of changes resulting in it taking twice as long, we get frustrated.

Moving our waiting to areas of a grander nature and frustration can be overwhelming.  Waiting for a health diagnosis or healing.  Waiting for a broken relationship to be healed.  Waiting for a job when we have been out of work for a lengthy period.  This is when waiting can have detrimental results for us, mentally and physically.  What does God want us to hear from Him while we are waiting?

As difficult as it may be to hear from God while we are waiting, He is trying to reach us.  Is He telling us, “You wanted patience, so I’m giving you an opportunity to be patient?”  Is He telling us, “You wanted true love, so I’m giving you time to appreciate true love?”  Is He telling us, “You wanted a job where you could spend more time with your family, so I’m giving you time to find that job?”  God talks to us in our waiting, helping us to better understand they ‘why’ in the waiting.  We need to go to Him and listen.  That can be challenging when the world around us is screaming, “Now, now, now.”  When we go to Him, and truly listen to what He is telling us, we can find peace in the waiting.

Trusting God is tough.  I am sure there are many of you that just read that and said, “I trust God – you’ve got that wrong Susan.”  Do we?  If we truly trusted God, we would not be frustrated in the waiting, for we know God has our future in His hands.  If we truly trusted God, we would give Him all of our anxious thoughts and never take them back when He does not work fast enough for us.  It is time, friends.  It is time to hear God in our waiting and trust that our lives are in no better hands than God’s hands.  We just need to have simple faith!

Video that complements this post:  Hearing in the Waiting

Heavenly Father, help me to listen to You in the waiting moments of my life.  May I hear what You are trying to tell me and trust that in the waiting Your plan will always be the be st for me.  In Your name I pray, Amen!

Peace in the Chaos

 

Everyone’s definition of peace is different.  Peace can be resting by the brook.  Peace can be sitting in your favorite chair in silence.  Peace can also be driving in the car down a beautiful side road.  Chaos also has different interpretations.  Chaos can be changed plans.  Chaos can be yelling and screaming around you.  Chaos can be traffic when you expect a smooth trip.  Peace and chaos cannot go hand in hand, can they?

In walks our verses for today.  If I was asked what my top ten verses are, my go-to verses when life gets hard, Philippians 4: 6-7 is on that list.  To me, it is the perfect meld of chaos and peace, all centered in the One who can walk us through that challenge.  The beauty of us as humans is that we are all different – not one of us is the same.  Not only does that reveal itself in how we share our talents, but also how we experience life.  Therefore, when chaos enters our life, it will look different to each of us.  Typically, chaos will bubble up in our lives to anxious moments.  Chaos does not enter our lives alone.  It enters with Jesus!  Through prayer and chatting with the One that knows us best, we acknowledge that although we may not understand why this chaos is happening, we know that He is present and can help us.  This is our opportunity to turn the chaos over to Jesus and ask for His help.

When we are able to do that, truly turn the chaos over to Jesus, in walks peace.   Peace also does not enter our lives alone.  It enters with Jesus!  In those moments of chaos when the world is screaming at us, peace may seem to be the last thing that will wash over us.  Yet, when we give it to God, He showers us with the blessing of peace.  Jesus’ peace is different than the brook, the silent chair, or the beautiful side road.  For those of you who have felt this in your lives, it is an incredible feeling.  As this scripture shares, it is incomprehensible to understand or even to explain at times.  But you know it when you feel it.  It is the moment that you know Jesus is in your corner, providing you the breath you needed to take, the calming that your heart needed, and the weight lifted off of your shoulders.    It is the peace that transcends all understanding.

Friends, chaos, and peace are extreme opposites.  We may find that in the people we meet – we could not be more opposite than the person that we come upon.  Just as God bridges the gap between chaos and peace, He also bridges that gaps found between people.  God is the common denominator – for we are ALL God’s children, made in His image.  Have simple faith that He will be there for the peace and the bridge among all of us.

Video that complements this post:  Peace in the Chaos

God, thank you for being our peace in the chaos.  May we remember to go to you always when chaos enters our life and bring us peace, the peace that passes all understanding!  Amen.

Where's My Plan

 

How I love a good plan; the kind of plan where you spend weeks preparing each detail to ensure precise execution.  Family and friends can attest to the fact that my days are filled with some sort of planning, whether it be what to do with the day, what to make for dinner and what needs to be accomplished.  Vacations?  There you REALLY need to be weary because, left to my own accord, you will see everything that needs to be seen in that city and do everything that needs to be done.

There are many great assets to being a planner (certainly from my perspective).  Stuff gets done!  Not much is left for chance, and the end of the day can mean great satisfaction.  Sadly, to admit, though, when the plan gets changed, what once was a straight line takes a detour, and the aftermath can chaotic and messy.  When those changes arise, the distraction can wreak havoc, especially with us planners!  Once again, you only need to go as far as my family and friends to know what that means for them – a Susan that is less than pleasant to be around.

I have learned a great deal in my years as a planner whose plans are detoured.  God has a better plan!  I can say with a great amount of certainty that when my plans have changed, there is goodness in the change.  Giving the change of plans over to God has been something I have had to work on.  When I say work, that is what it has been.  When the well-oiled plan is disrupted, I turn to God in prayer.  Inside I say, “Not my will, but your will be done, God.”  I may not like it, and I may stomp my feet a bit, but I have learned that His plans always have a greater purpose than my plans had.

God’s plan may not reveal itself in bells and whistles.  Traffic that I am stuck in may result in an extra praise song I needed to hear.  Detour in the actual road has me seeing God’s beauty in the side roads versus the highway.  Even deeper, the cancelled meeting led me to meet with an associate who needed a listening ear.  The dinner plans that were cancelled yielded a quiet night for me and my husband to reconnect. 

On a larger scale, a lost job can draw one towards an opportunity of a lifetime that brings greater joy.  A broken relationship can bring you towards the love of your life.  A loved one who has passed on may have been spared a lifetime of agony.  Friends, our plans are not our plans.  Our plans, yielded to God, are His plans.  My personal goal?  To ask Him to share His plan with me BEFORE I make my plans.  It certainly saves me a great deal of time (and dissatisfaction).  I am beginning the journey of asking God what He wants me to do before I start.  What is He trying to achieve?  Then it is up to me to have simple faith to listen and move in His journey.  When life does not go according to your plan, try God’s plan – it is guaranteed to be a blessing!

Video that complements this post:  Where's My Plan

Dearest God, thank you for your gentle nudging, guiding me to the plan you have for me.  May I always look to you and seek Your plan first before I make my plans.  Help me to listen and move in Your direction.  Amen!

Did this post speak to you?  If so, you may enjoy my new book, Simple Faith for Every Season, launching in October.  Stay tuned for more details or visit my website at Simple Faith For Today

What Season Are We In

 

Here we go people – we are entering my most favorite time of year!  For those of you who have been on the journey of Simple Faith for Today for over 13 years, you know it is coming – autumn!  I absolutely adore this season with all of the sights, smells, and experiences it has to offer.  September is that odd ‘in between’ month.  I want it to be autumn, but technically that does not arrive until mid-October.  In New England, we can feel autumn coming upon us, but we are not quite there yet.  We see a few leaves in the trees turning their spectacular colors, apples are ready for picking, pumpkins are in the patches, and the nights are a bit cooler.  The season is coming.

The seasons of our lives are not much different than those of the seasons around us.  There is the winter season that can be filled with trials and challenges.  The spring season may find us yearning to make positive changes.  Summer season can bring moments of resting on our laurels and not actively working on the changes we make.  The autumn season I always saw as a time of reflection and thankfulness in our lives. 

The question becomes, what season are you in?  Snow may not be around us, but you may feel you are stuck in a difficult situation that looks as bleak as a winter storm.  The newness of spring may be where you are now – enjoying the excitement of achieving something new in your life and working hard to make positive change.  Possibly you are holding onto summer for a couple more days, lulled into relaxing days, but realizing your activity to continue the positive changes you made are falling to the wayside.  Are you in the reflective days of autumn along with me, where thoughts turn to the goodness you have in your life?

It can be difficult to navigate these seasons in our lives.  As our verse for today states, for everything that we are enduring, there is a season for it.  The best news is that Jesus is there with us in every season of our lives!  He is there as the snow piles on, there for the uncertainty of new changes, there to help kick us in the pants when we need it and there as we reflect and give thanks.  Take time to decide what season of life you may be in and then ask Jesus for His help in guiding you through that season.  He is there, ready to take your hand.  All you need to have is simple faith!

If this message resonates with you, you may enjoy my new book, Simple Faith for Every Season.  It will be launching soon, and I will share more details in the weeks ahead!

Video that complements this post:  What Season are We In

Dearest Jesus, thank you for never leaving me, regardless of what season in my life I am experiencing.  Continue to hold my hand and guide my path.  Amen!