Tag: waiting

Blog Post

Silence From God

redbankwomen

It seems unnatural to “name it,” to say it out loud – that there simply are seasons in our Christian lives where we feel a silence from God.  

As you might imagine, I have been in just that season. After 29 years of teaching, I retired at age 52 with two children who are school-age.  I feel more peace than I have felt in so many years and I KNOW it was the right thing.  But, I walked away from sun-up to sun-down hustle and bustle to simply stand still.  I am afraid I don’t know how to just stand still.  

It’s the waiting – for me.  I don’t know about you, but I am a bit impatient and I like to know what is ahead.   

Recently, Pastor Jeff (Wright) said, “Times of silence from God are meant to draw out the fragrance of faith from you.”  What a great reminder that God has a purpose for us even during those times when He seems silent. 

This is not my first season of feeling this “silence” from God.  

The message I am currently getting from Him is: Just hold tight.  Hang on.  I’m not ignoring you.  Just hold on.  I’m not done.  I’ve got something brewing for you. Use this time to draw near to me and get geared up for what is coming.  

Although I don’t know what is ahead, God is drawing out a sweet fragrance of faith as I wait and trust fully in Him that HE’s got this!  

It is not easy for me.  I feel like I am missing something.  Something BIG.  Do you ever feel that way?  Like: God, hello??? I’m over here!  Do you see me?  What am I supposed to do?  What’s next?  What’s NOW?

How about you?  How is God speaking to you when it feels like he’s being silent?  

God’s promise in Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Psalm 62:5 says “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”  When you feel like God’s far away and you can’t hear his voice, what you need to do is abide in Him.  Our hope is in the Lord, which is where patience, joy and peace can live in us abundantly. 

Blog Post

As We Wait

redbankwomen

Who likes to wait? Raise your hand.  For the most part, as a society, we don’t like to wait. Just ask the waitress that gets yelled at because the food took 5 minutes too long to get to the table.

Now how many of you like a really good rack of ribs? The best ones I have ever had were so tender and flavorful – because they had been allowed to marinate and then slow cooked to give all the flavor time to be fully achieved. Preparation, marinated and slow cooked. It took time! 

Have you ever felt like what is the next step, do I go through door number 1 or 3? You have been praying about a specific thing and you are just not sure what the next step is. You want to go ahead and walk through door number 1, but there is a hesitation about it. Have you ever jumped ahead of God? The Holy Spirit will guide us, but we must be paying attention.

The answer is to wait. If we rush then we do not receive the best God has for us, and we could really mess things up. How many of us can identify with lessons learned from   jumping ahead?  As we wait, God is preparing! Those ribs could have been rushed, but they would not have been as tender or flavorful. Allowing God to add flavor to our lives while we wait can be really hard but oh so worth it!

“But they who wait for 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”

Blog Post

When Night Lingers

redbankwomen

when night lingers imageAll that night the LORD drove the sea back.  Exodus 14:21

The following comes from a devotion in the book, “Streams in the Desert.”

In this verse, there is a comforting message showing how God works during darkness. The real work of God for the children of Israel did not happen when they awoke that morning to find they could cross the Red Sea, but it occurred “all that night.”

There may be a great work occurring in your life when things seem their darkest. You may see no evidence yet but God is at work. God was just as much at work “all that night” as He was the next day, when the Israelites finally saw the evidence. The next day simply revealed what God had done during the night.

Are you reading this from a place in your life where everything seems dark? Do you have faith to see but are still not seeing? Are you lacking continual victory in your spiritual growth? Is your daily, quiet communion gone, and there is nothing but darkness all around?

“All that night the LORD drove the sea back.”   “Don’t forget it was “all that night.” God works through the night until the morning light dawns. You may not see it yet, but through the night of your life, as you trust Him, He works. 

God worked through the darkness of the CROSS to bring each one of us life, hope into every corner of our lives, and light into the night of our souls giving us abundant life through Jesus.

We all need reminding at times that God is in the night before the day dawns.

Blessings,

The WM Team