One of my recent morning devotions (in The Word For You Today) was based on Psalm 37:7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Let me share it with you:
© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Mourning Dove at Pond
The old saying, "You can't always have what you want," isn't necessarily true. When you "delight yourself in the Lord ... He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4). But usually He makes you wait.There are things you can't have today that you'll be able to have in the future. So it doesn't make sense to drive yourself crazy and put your life on hold struggling to accomplish something now, that'll be easy when the time is right.
God allows certain things to take place in our lives to teach us important principles like:
a) developing new skills and ways of thinking
b) showing grace and controlling our responses
c) maintaining our faith when times get touch
When you spend time in God's waiting room, He's developing qualities in you that simply can't be developed any other way. When He's finished you'll come out stronger and wiser. So don't let the enemy rattle you or engineer circumstances that put you into overdrive. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."
I certainly wish I could say I've been patient, but the little patience I have has only come after many years of being in overdrive trying to make things happen. There's a balance between "putting your hand to the plow" and waiting patiently. When you have a desire or dream, it's sometimes hard to see where the line crosses over.
As years passed I became more patient, more knowing that it would happen in God's time, and in that way of thinking, it increased my faith and belief that it would happen. Having 19 days with God in the jungle was incredibly sweet and in that stillness I knew that it was almost time to move forward.
In my soul, I'm sure in many ways I had given up, focusing on contentment, although my spirit knew there was more purpose in my life than that. In the jungle God encouraged me to have faith, to believe and to know that it will happen. How many times did Jesus say, "Only believe?" And He also said that He could do nothing because of unbelief. How we think really affects our journey in life.
I remember a familiar quote, "If you think it will happen it will, if you think it won't, it won't. Either way you will be correct." Interesting.
It wasn't easy to step out and look again for "that place." Disappointment doesn't produce good feelings. And the devil will tell you all the wrong things.
But where do you think dreams come from? Continue nurturing your dream, keep hoping and believing and stand in faith that it will come to pass. Look for it, but don't put a timetable on it. Only God can run the time schedule and it's all based on you becoming more like Him in the process. Ask what the next step is. He may not reveal the entire plan, but he'll give you the next step always if you're listening.
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." But keep the excitement alive in your soul!
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