I have definitely come by the patience I do have the hard way. It has been utterly excruciating for me to await God’s timing for certain things I long for. But I have learned, even though it has often been the hard way, if I want to walk through destiny’s door I must do it in God’s time and in God’s way.
That is sure easier said than done!
When I think of all the times I have run ahead of God! I groan at the remembrance. How many times I have said, “If I had only waited.”
We all have those memories don’t we?
There have also been those times I blush to remember. Times when I did NOT want to obey what God was clearly instructing me to do. Times when I argued like Perry Mason making my case and dragging my feet.
But in every case, where I walked and where I waited, obeying God no matter how my flesh screamed to the contrary? Those were the times in retrospect I was ALWAYS thankful I had listened and obeyed—albeit dragging feet!
Here’s the thing. Petulant pouting only causes delays. Sometimes it can even send you on a major detour, depending on just how long it takes to see it God’s way.
And if you don’t?
If you decide you’re going to have it your way?
Oh, baby! The consequences of those choices can be compared to doing HARD time.
(And haven’t we all done that?)
I confess to you that I have—many times—when I refused to listen and obey God.
I thought my way was the best way.
(Sigh.)
I think sometimes the worst thing that can happen to us, is for us to get our own way. Instead of walking through destiny’s door we hear the door closing on a prison of our own making.
How thankful I am for the many, many prayers I have prayed for the wrong things and God said, “No. That’s not my best for you. Trust My plan. Trust Me.”
Sure, I cried.
Sometimes I cried buckets! But in the end I trusted in a Love that would never let me go. A Love that could see all the things that I could not. A Love that would always be with me and get me through every storm.
Destiny’s door opens when ALL things align.
That is when God’s Living Water flows from our lives enriching the lives of others and glorifying our great God.
Providential alignment is God’s way of doing what’s best. Not just the best for us, but the best for others, and the best for His Kingdom Purposes. Some of us call it THE BIG PICTURE. I call it the eternal picture. The one from Heaven’s view.
I want that.
(And it’s why I choose to wait.)
“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Psalm 30:5
