Saturday, June 20, 2015

Encouragement For the Waiting ~ Waiting Is A Time For: Patience


Waiting is not only a time for prayer, it’s a time for:

2. Patience: (n.) the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.  

"Well, doh, Natalie. And wait just a minute. All your other points in this waiting series are active verbs. How can patience be active?" 

Here it is: 
  •  Patience involves Surrender


Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
 
Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Psa 25:1  A Psalm of David. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

Psa 25:2  O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.


Surrender is one of those deeds "easier said."

Last week, God gave me a "surrender moment," which I wouldn't have chosen for myself, when my hopes for placing in a prestigious writing contest took a face plant. I knew exactly why the piece didn't score well, but by the time I figured it out, the opportunity to revise had passed. Took me about three seconds to realize God knew all this would happen before I did and He'd already made provision to soothe my squashed dream of being on that finalist list.

As an outpouring of His infinite goodness and love, ofttimes the Lord paves the way for our surrender to Him, preparing us for the event with a grace-gift beforehand. He did this for me when I learned one of my critique partners' entries DID make the finalist list! I rode high on that gem of celebration for the next three days since I'm a huge fan of these stories--and the writer--and can't wait to see both take off and soar.

God is sooooo good like that.

When we acknowledge what and Who we're waiting on as well as why and where we're waiting, then pray, trusting in the God Who hears, we can surrender our situation to our Creator and rest in Him. He will prepare us plus take care of the outcome.

Recently departed speaker and writer Elisabeth Elliot knew something about surrender. Elisabeth was a missionary widow who spent two years ministering to the remote Indian tribe who murdered her husband. She later remarried, but in her relationship book for singles, Passion and Purity (highly recommended), she shares what she learned waiting on God. "I do know that waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts."


General William Booth (who Founded the Salvation army in London in 1865) was once asked to reveal the secret of his success. After some hesitation, tears came to his eyes and he said, “I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I have, men with greater opportunities, but from the day that I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of what Jesus could do with them, on that day I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth there was." It was this which led Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, the questioner, to remark, “I learned from William Booth that the greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.” (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #12616).


Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand  


Do you have a favorite poem or song about waiting or surrender? Share about it in the comments.

Winner of Jennifer Slattery's When Dawn Breaks is Bonnie Roof. Congrats!!! :) I'll be in touch. 

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful, beautiful post Natalie. Thanks for being willing to share your own story of disappointment--and surrender.

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  2. Oh, Natalie...
    I love this.

    Your honesty and encouragement--wow.
    I've never been patient, Lord knows. He always has to remind me that what I want isn't always most important. He has a plan. A perfect one. But it won't happen on my timeline.

    I so wanted your name to be on that finalist list. But I'm unbelievably excited to see how your editor appointments go.


    You deserve success, I can't wait to see you obtain it.

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  3. Hi Natalie!! Thank you so much for sharing, I needed this!!

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  4. Thank you, Aunt Linda! Glad you enjoyed the post!

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  5. Thank you so much for the encouragement, Courtney!! I'm getting more excited than ever about conference!

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  6. Abby! So glad the blog spoke to you! Thank you so much for letting me know!!

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