Wait on the Lord!

So this is my first blog post! Go, Baby Jesus!!!! 🙂 I’m not going to be posting these devotionals in the order God gave them to me, but I will be posting all of the devotionals He’s given me so far and then adding as He continues to speak. Bless God and God Bless!

My reading on October 27, 2011 was 2 Peter 3. OMG! 2 Peter 3:9 just BLEW MY MIND. In the text, the writer is specifically talking about God’s promise to come back and rapture his people. But, for me, this struck me as true of all of God’s promises. I don’t want to presume to say that this is applicable in the case of ALL OF GOD’s promises because again, the writer was specifically talking about God’s promise to come back for His people. However, FOR ME, this verse really spoke to God’s delay not being a denial.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9 For me, this verse is kind of revolutionary because it TOTALLY changed my perspective on the “waiting period” for promises/God’s promised blessings. I’ve heard over and over again that God knows what He’s doing and all will happen in His timing; and in fact I’m a huge fan of the truth of God’s Kairos vs. our Chronos; but THIS verse, for some reason made the intent SO clear and completely changed how I view the waiting period.

For me, this verse changes the thought process that I’m waiting for God to the thought process that God is actually waiting for ME!!!!!!! For so long I thought that when I’m waiting for God’s blessing or God’s promise(s) to me that it’s only because it’s not yet God’s timing, but this verse completely explains WHY God’s Kairos (appointed time) hasn’t come yet and WHY I’m still in the waiting period for some things. Here, all this time while I’ve been thinking God isn’t moving fast enough for me, He’s not giving me what I want in the time that I want it, the truth is, I’m the one moving too slowly; and the fact is, if I would just STOP wanting and EXPECTING God to get on board with “my plans” and start focusing on the plans that He has for me I would be MUCH closer to receiving His promises.

The verse goes on to say that not only is God waiting on us and NOT vice versa, the REASON He’s waiting on us is because He does NOT desire for us to be DESTROYED. Again, while this verse refers specifically to eternal damnation as opposed to eternal celebration in the presence of God; this verse still holds true in the instance of God’s other promises. God knows just what we can handle and what we can’t handle. He knows what will destroy us and what will uphold and uplift us and bring us closer to Him. And as with many things in life, TIMING IS EVERYTHING! God knows that even things that are good for us, if given to us at the wrong time, can become our undoing; can become our kryptonite; can DESTROY us! I think THAT’S what makes God’s delays so hard to swallow sometimes; because we may not necessarily want things that aren’t good for us, we may just want something that’s not GOOD FOR US RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

Just as with a baby, pureed fruit and vegetables are certainly good for them, they carry nutrients and vitamins that will help the baby grow healthily, but when a child is NEWBORN, even pureed fruit and vegetables are TOO complex for their digestive systems; they need the BASICS; they need MILK, a SIMPLE “food” that their bodies can READILY DIGEST at that time and STILL receive all the nutrients that they need at that stage in life! So, pureed fruits and vegetables will still be good for the baby when they get to that particular stage in their development, but if they were to try digesting it right out of the womb, they would become sick because their bodies cannot handle those foods yet! It is the exact same way with us! God is NOT saying that we can’t have what we desire! In, fact, in some cases He acknowledges that the things we desire are good for us, but just NOT IN OUR CURRENT SEASON! Because, literally the thing(s) that is good for us in the future will UTTERLY DESTROY US if we grab hold of it in the wrong season/in the present season.

Finally the verse says that God’s desire for us is that RATHER than being destroyed we would come to repentance or metanoia. God desires for us to come to a change of mind; to literally begin to think differently and thus, walk differently than our original thought process. Again, repentance specifically calls us to change our minds with regard to the sins we’ve been committing and make an about-face on the path and start following God’s plan for us. It is the same in the parallel that’s drawn here; God desires that instead of continually pursuing our DELAYED PROMISES we should change our minds about how we pursue them. Our flesh tells us to DOGGISHLY pursue what we want until we get it; but God is saying to combat that by acknowledging what God says about our desires. If God says, “Not yet. Wait just a while longer” we shouldn’t push past his warning (because that’s what it is), we should instead change our minds and choose to WAIT patiently, recognizing that God is WAITING PATIENTLY for us! We should choose to WAIT PATIENTLY resting in the fact that if God says “not yet” it’s because I can’t handle it, and if I had “this thing” right now it would UTTERLY DESTROY ME!

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…’ – Jeremiah 29:11 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31 I think if we would just recognize that God is patiently waiting on US, then we could more patiently wait on the LORD!

Bless God and God Bless!

THE Writer’s Pen,

Angelique

#repentance #wait #slow #patiently #patience #season #destroy #expect #repent #blessing #God #time #promise #Lord #plan #patient