Waiting Without Worrying...

"True patience is waiting without worrying."

(Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong, p. 124; http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/patience.htm)

Oh I wish I could master this truth...How about you?

Perhaps you're at a crossroad today...Maybe you've been at this crossroad for some time now...The crossroad of fulfillment and standing your ground...The crossroad of saying yes to all God has called you to and waiting patiently to experience the completion of that call.

If that's you, you're not alone. As I step forward to say yes to God's call, I often find myself standing before another closed door...AND, once again...I wait.

But perhaps the waiting season is God's design to prepare us, to strengthen us, and to position us for our ultimate victory. Perhaps the waiting season's of our life produce depth and intimacy in our relationship with God, teaching us how to triumph over fear, and remove pride and self-determination from our life. God wants us to completely trust in WHO HE IS and WHAT HE HAS PROMISED for our lives.

It's when we lose "our life" for His sake that we find life. Paul wrote it this way to the Philippians, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8, NIV)

Gaining Christ is our ultimate mission...Our mission is to know Him...to be like Him...to glorify Him...but living out our faith is a process.

Paul continues to encourage the Philippians, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14, NIV)

So today, as you WAIT, I encourage you to forget what is behind and press forward toward what is ahead...press on toward the goal for which God has called you to in Christ Jesus. Embrace your season of waiting with the assurance that God is working ALL things together for your good....knowing He is faithful and will complete ALL HE HAS PROMISED.

PRAYER: Father, we simply ask that you produce your life in us. Open the doors you want us to go through without making us have to wait any longer than is absolutely necessary. In Jesus name, AMEN.