Growing in the Waiting

Growing in the Waiting Today's Scripture: We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12 NIV. Today's Word: If God made everything happen right away, or whenever we wanted it to happen, it wouldn’t require anything of us. We would miss the opportunity to grow because we grow in the difficult times. We grow when our faith is being stretched, when we have to believe when we don’t see any reason to believe, when we stay in faith when our mind is telling us we’re wasting our time, when we give God praise but we really feel like complaining. That’s passing the test. When you do that every day, your faith is not only increasing, your character is not only being developed, but you are one day closer to seeing the promise come to pass. Today, don’t give up on a promise just because you’ve been waiting a long time. Dig your heels in. Put on a new attitude. God is saying, “Every promise I’ve spoken over you, every dream I’ve placed in your spirit, even the secret petitions of your heart, the dreams you haven’t told anyone about, I still have every intention of bringing them to pass.” Stay close to Him. Obey His Word and move forward in the blessing and victory He has prepared for you! Prayer for Today: Father, today I bless and praise You for Your faithfulness. I choose to trust even when things aren’t happening on my timetable. Thank You for working in me as I stand in faith to see every promise fulfilled in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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You Need God’s Presence, Not His Explanation by Rick Warren “Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm 37:7a GW) One of the reasons people struggle with contentment is because we’re always looking for explanations for why things happen in our lives. God doesn’t tell us why most of the things happen in our lives, and that just ticks us off. Why doesn’t God tell you why everything happens in your life? Because he’s testing you. He’s testing you to see if you will let go of control and learn to be content, whether he explains it or not. God doesn’t owe you an explanation for anything, and you wouldn’t understand it even if he gave it. But even if you did get an explanation, it still wouldn’t take away the pain. You’re not going to know why most things happen until you get on the other side of death. God isn’t going to give you an explanation. But he will test you. I remember when I was a little kid that the only time our classroom in school was quiet was during a test. The teacher would say, “No talking! Take your pencils, and fill out your tests.” Even the teacher would be silent. When God is silent in your life, you’re going through a test. When you don’t hear God and he feels like a million miles away, that is a test! The teacher is always silent when the students take a test. When God is silent in your life, your faith is being tested. Will you let go of control, or will you grab on more tightly? Will you learn to be content? When you’re going through pain this next week or next month or this year, you don’t really need God’s explanation. You need God’s presence. “Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7a GW). Talk It Over What are you angry with God about that you don’t want to admit? In what way is God testing you right now? How will you respond?