A number of years ago, my friend and I sat face-to-face on the couch and talked about her journey through the wilderness. It’s been a slow and agonizing passage for her. She’s been weary in the waiting; she so wants a breakthrough; yet she’s so faithfully taken one obedient step at a time without any sense of when her breakthrough would come.
The thing is, she could take a few steps to the right and land herself on the fast highway to some kind of quick solution. But truth be told, that would be her way, not God’s way. She’d end up with a counterfeit version of God’s best desire for her life. And in the depths of her heart, she wants to lay hold God’s highest and best will for her.
My friend shared how the journey has taken its toll. I leaned in, grabbed her arms, and said, “Listen to me, friend. Your sacrifice of praise and your fierce obedience have not gone unnoticed by God. There is NO sacrifice you could make to Him that will not met with a totally disproportionate response of His great love, and grace, and provision! Any gift you give, any offering you make, any initiative you take to obey Him (especially when it costs you), is noted by God, and He will respond to that in ways you cannot imagine. He is a disproportionate God! Wrap your arms around who you are to Him! Embrace what you possess in Him. Though you long to have your breakthrough right now, get a vision for the harvest response He is preparing for you in the days to come. You can trust Him with your whole story because He cares deeply about you!”
And can I tell you this? Today, all of these years later, my friend is overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness for the way God broke through and answered her prayers. She’d tell you this herself: Wait for the Lord. He knows what’s best for you, and He is more than able to answer when the time is right!
May these words encourage you today as well.
Are you weary in well doing? Have you waited on God for what feels like forever yet feel frustrated by your lack of forward-moving progress?
Maybe it feels tempting to grab a quick solution or a counterfeit version of something He has promised you, but deep in your heart, you know it’s best to wait for God’s best for you.
Do it, my friend. Wait for God’s best and see if He won’t absolutely boggle your mind with His goodness, His grace, and His attention to detail.
If at all possible, get your eyes off of what you lack and of what it’s costing you right now. Instead, lift your eyes to Jesus, the One who will finish what He started in and through you.
If you lack strength or perspective in this particular moment, get alone with God. Spend extended time in His presence. Open your hands to receive more of what He so lovingly wants to provide for you. Remind yourself of His Word and His promise to you. Speak to your soul the way my friend Ann Voskamp speaks to hers. She reminds herself everyday of this truth: God is always good. And I am always loved.
There is no gift you can give, no prayer you can pray, no act of obedience that you can initiate that will not be met by God’s overwhelming love, provision, goodness, grace, and power when the time is right.
You may not see its evidence right away, but the seeds you’ve planted have life in them; they’re affecting change, making a difference, and impacting circumstances in your midst. One day your eyes will see it, so know it now.
Stand on God’s faithfulness now.
Today.
Believe Him for big things.
Entrust your cares, your sacrifices, and your gifts to Him.
There’s no safer place for your hopes, your dreams, and the concerns of your heart than with Jesus. God is in the business of exponential, over and above, beyond our wildest dreams, kinds of answers. Every detail of your life is best entrusted to Him.
Open your arms wide. Look up. Trust Him. Obey Him. He is good and He is more than able to do in a moment what it might take you years to accomplish. God is able. You can trust Him.
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!” – Ephesians 3:20