Waiting…….
We live in a world where we have been accustomed to getting everything quickly. We have no time to cook so we get fast food, we do drive-through banking, and we use apps to do things for us. As a result of the technology advanced world we live in, we expect everything quickly. Sadly we expect the same with God and as a result sometimes we might fall out of God’s perfect plan for us because we didn’t wait on Him. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that we did hear from God only because we listened to “our” desires versus His perfect plan for us.
My husband and I are in a place right now that we need to make a move and this next move is so important for us that we want to hurry up and move fast. However, we are waiting on God to speak to us and give us His direction. It’s hard to wait when you feel like time is running out. I could imagine that’s how the Israelites felt when the Egyptians were coming for them. I’m sure they were ready to just do things on their own strength and yet God came through for them at the last minute (Exodus 14:21). Imagine yourself in a situation where your enemy is right on your tail, ready to kill you and in an instant God made a way for you and took your enemy down. Yes, when we wait for God to take action He shows up and as I always say, not only does He show up but He shows off. He shows you who He is and that nothing is too big for Him.
So I’m sitting here praying, doing my devotionals, asking God to please speak to me and give me some direction. I’m running down my situation to him (as if He doesn’t know) and suddenly he does an “instant replay” of my last few months. Well I have to say I needed that because it reminded me that not only does God have my back, not only does He come through but He reminded me that when He comes through it’s in abundance. So let me testify to the goodness of God. This is going to be a little long but truly worth the read.
In December 2014, while in prayer, I heard the spirit of the Lord tell me that 2015 was going to be a year of change and that it would be good change. A month later my honey proposed to me, four months later I lost my job of 26 years and I had total peace about losing it, five months after the proposal we were married and I put my house up for sale so that I could move to PA with my husband. My husband had been looking for work for almost a year with no luck. In September he went for an interview and was pretty much hired on the spot. That evening he was half asleep when they called him with the official offer and the salary they offered was less than the word the Lord had given me months ago. I said to my husband, “I know what God told me you would be making and that’s not it. You need to go see them and negotiate a better deal”. Well the next day my husband went to negotiate a better deal and due to circumstances beyond his control, he was not able to speak to them about the salary he desired. Yet, we knew this was the job because they made a concession of giving him the job though he didn’t have a driver’s license which was a requirement. We also knew this was the job because the week he was offered the job we went to our church and they announced that they were opening up a church in the same town where his job was located; which is where we were looking for a home. So here’s where God showed us that He is not a man to lie and that when He speaks something we need to hold onto it because He will fulfill His word (Isa 55:11). My husband returned home unable to speak to them about his desired salary and we checked his email to find the official offer letter which, get this, it didn’t have the salary my husband thought he heard over the phone but instead it was the salary that God told me he would earn. That’s the AMAZING God I serve. He tells me change is coming and I get a proposal, lose my job, get married, put my house up for sale and get ready for a move out of my home state and He tells me what my husband will be earning at his next job and that’s exactly what he gets. But wait, it doesn’t end there. We were desperate to find a place close enough to his job so he can walk to work given he can’t drive. We looked for a couple of days and found a place that was a total dive. It really looked depressing but it was all we could find. My husband was about to sign the application but I just felt like this was not what God had for us because His word says He gives us the desires of our heart when we take delight in Him (Psalm 37:4). His word also says He gives exceedingly and abundantly more than we can every imagine (Eph 3:20). So we leave without completing the apartment application. I tell my husband we need to find a supermarket nearby because sometimes people post rentals on the bulletin boards. Well, just as we are about to give up and go home, my husband tells me, to drive to the supermarket. On route to the supermarket we see a local motel so my husband inquires about a monthly rental. They show us a trailer home, fully furnished but the bathroom was absolutely disgusting. I’m thinking, well this is much better than the last place so maybe this is it but I keep thinking of the bathroom and I’m like oh God no. Well God shows up again and the hotel owner asked the location of hubby’s new job. She proceeds to tell us that she has a home for rent on the same block. Excitedly we get into our car to see the home for rent and get this, it’s literally ACROSS THE STREET FROM HUBBY’S JOB. I literally cried to see how God had met all our needs. He provided the job, he provided the home and God heard my complaint to Georgie months ago when I told him that I’m going to miss living in my little country like NY valley and placed us in a house that’s on an acre of land (that we don’t have to maintain) with cows as our neighbors. Talk about country living. The house is more than we asked for with an acre of land and 3 bedrooms and two baths. My God supplied all our needs and more. The owner of the house said she had been praying that God would send someone who was willing to do a monthly lease because she was holding the home for a newlywed couple who planned to move there in June. That’s how awesome God is that he connected two families to answer both of our prayers. He also provided the buyers for my home in NY which is going into contract only a month after being put on the market.
So back to my morning prayers this morning. I’m praying and I’m saying Lord, we really need your help here, we need your direction. The closing for my home is in December and the home we are renting doesn’t allow dogs and I am not getting rid of my dog. I’m asking the Lord do we place an offer on one of the houses we’ve seen. I’m telling the Lord the houses are nice but I feel like I’m settling because I’m rushing due to the dog issue and he reminds me of everything I just shared above. He reminds me that not only did He come through but He gave us more than we asked, more than we were expecting, more than we thought was possible. So once again he reminds me, “wait on me my daughter, wait on me”. My response, “Daddy, I’m waiting on you because you always know what’s best. Thank you Daddy”.
If you are in that place of waiting, don’t give up hope. Continue to seek God and wait on Him. Waiting on God is not easy but it is always best.
Father God, I pray that whomever you directed to read this today has been ministered to. I pray Father God that you give them grace to wait on you, I pray you give them ears to hear what the spirit of the Lord is saying to them and I pray that you give them strength to move when you say move, be still when you say be still and above all that they would seek first the Kingdom of God.
UPDATE - On the night of the same day I wrote this I received an alert of a new home in the same area we've been looking. It was absolutely beautiful, much more than we could ever imagine at an amazing price. Made an offer the following day, a bidding war ensued but God gave us favor and the sellers accepted our offer on November 1st which was my late husband's birthday. I believe that was God's way of giving me a gift from above. Forty-two days later we closed on our new lovely home. Thank you Lord that we did not settle but waited and trusted you.