Have you ever noticed that God is not in any hurry? Waiting
on God is a blessing and a curse. We have to apply patience, and we humans hate
to wait! All the waiting tests our faith in God’s faithfulness. Our nerves get
on edge, we chew our fingernails down to nubs and we get grouchy about
everything with everyone. The apostles felt this way too. They were caught in a
horrid storm again, they feared for their life and the circumstances appeared
hopeless. They forgot that Jesus already saved them in a similar circumstance
in the past, when He was asleep in their boat and they woke Him to calm the
storm (Matthew 8:25-16).
This time, however, Jesus was not with them. He sent them
across the sea while He went up to the mountain to pray. The apostles felt even
more fearful this time, because they were alone...well, they thought they were
alone. Jesus surprised them by suddenly walking up to them on the water. At
first they feared He was simply a ghost (Matthew 14:27). Jesus
is with us in our storms as well. We are never, ever alone (Hebrews
13:5). Jesus lives is in us and walks with us through every trial we
experience.
Waiting on God can also be an amazing adventure. We just
have to put our issues in the heart of God and change our focus from the
circumstances to God’s love toward us. Make a list of His times of provision in
your life and pull it out every time you feel alone. As we remember what He did
for us in the past, it helps us to believe He has a solution for this time as
well. Our total surrender in every area of our life helps us to wait more
patiently and brings fulfillment, which transcends anything this world has to
offer.
The Christian life is all consuming and if we live it
through self-effort, we will burn out. This occurs especially if we are also
resisting His will in an area of our life. And in some cases, even if we are in
the center of God’s will, we will experience opposition from our flesh, the
world and Satan and his emissaries. We may entertain thoughts of discouragement,
which totally overwhelm us. We barely drag our self out of bed and we feel
like warmed-over death. However, God designed these trials to turn our reliance
from our self onto Him, who raises us from the dead. He always delivers those
who put their hope in Him (2 Corinthians 1:8-10).
Prayer:
Father God, our negative emotions are a sign of our
misplaced reliance. We have some idol in our life that we believe is paramount
to our well-being. Satan uses this to his advantage in order to move us out of
the spirit and into the flesh. When our expectations are disappointed by the
reality in our life at this moment, we attempt to gain meaning and value from
self-worth and self-effort apart from You. We fail to remember that You are our
all-sufficiency in all things (2 Corinthians 9:8). Our only hope of lasting
success for Your Kingdom is to eliminate our carnal goals and cling instead to
our union with Christ in us.
Thought for the Day:
Our trials test our trust throughout our lives,
but surrender to God’s will keeps us walking in His perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).Thank you, Susan Erwin, for the use of your photo.
