The Art of Waiting
This week at camp I got a cool opportunity to talk to the group of girls I have this week about patience. We were sitting in Arts and Crafts and were in the middle of doing a really cool project, but they seemed to be so fixated on the next thing we were going to do. They could see what it was and couldn’t take their eyes off it. They kept asking Ms. Jenny “when are we going to make the lava lamps?” That’s all they could focus on. They couldn’t even enjoy what they were doing in the moment out of focusing so hard on the next thing they were going to do. Ms. Jenny told them “the more you ask the longer it going to take.” Then I told the girls “if you keep focusing on it, it is going to seem like it is taking forever.” Then one of the girls starting “pretending” she wasn’t thinking about. I looked at her and said,” You can’t pretend to not be thinking about it either, haha.” Of course we have a certain amount of time that we have to get stuff done, so the girls were going to get to do the activity but because they were so focused on it they were worried it wasn’t going to happen. Jenny knew they were going to get to make the lava lamps but it wasn’t time yet. There were other things she had planned first for them to do before they made the lava lamps. So while we were sitting there I brought up the verse Proverbs 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you’re the desire of your heart.” I explained that the more we focus on whatever is we want the longer it is going to seem it’s taking to get it. God sees your heart. He knows when you’re sincere and when you’re not. Be patient and trust that God has a good plan for you. Jesus needs to be what we want more that anything because He is what satisfies. All the other stuff, even if it is good stuff, doesn’t fully satisfy. Only Jesus is the cup that doesn’t run dry.
I love that verse, Prove 37:4 because the most important part is the Delight yourself in the Lord part. What the girls were doing by focusing on what they didn’t have yet, is what we as Christians do all the time when we are waiting on the desires of our hearts to be met. We are focusing on the wrong thing. We get so caught up in what we don’t have. We forget to focus on what we are doing and do have and enjoying where we are right now. We forget to delight in Jesus. Maybe you have heard it this way before: as we delight ourselves in Christ our desires change. The things you thought you wanted change. You begin to desire the things of God. When we desire the things God wants for us, and are delighting in and satisfied in Him, then he gives us the desires of our hearts, which are also the desires of His heart. It’s CRAZY!
I remember a story that Henry Blackaby told in the “Experiencing God” Bible study my friends and I did. He was talking about this same verse Prov 37:4 and he used a story to help illustrate it better.
His son’s birthday was coming up so Henry and his wife went out to by their son a bike. They hide it so he wouldn’t find it until his birthday. In the meantime he asked his son what he wanted for his birthday and he told him a bike, and what kind of bike he wanted. Now the bike that his son described was the not the bike he had for him. So he had to convince his son that he want the bike he already had for him. It worked! The bike the Henry had bought for his son was the bike he was wanting. So when his birthday came around and Henry gave him the bike, his son was so excited because it was exactly what he wanted.
Does that make since?? We need to delight in Jesus. Seek first the Kingdom of God. I’m probably the worst and trying to look 10 yrs down the road and not enjoying the moment. But over and over again God reminds me, even when I’m teaching a lesson, he teaches me to wait on Him. Don’t focus so much on the things you want, or want to do. Delight yourself in Me, Jesus tells us. As your delight in Me I am molding and shaping your heart to desire the things I have for you. So delight in me, and I will give you’re the desires of your heart.
The other morning as I was reading my devotion the Lord just reminded me “I will not let your settle for less than I have for you.” If you knew me and my story, I praise God for His stubborn love for me. Only when His way and my way are the same, which comes through seeking after Him, do I get what I desire. But there have been times when I thought I wanted something, but God and his sovereignty knows what is best and the plans he has. So knowing that whatever I ask is “Yes” in Christ, if I get a “No,” there is a reason. OHHHH I pray I am making some since!!! Sometimes we think we want something but it’s not God’s best, and out of His grace, mercy, and love he doesn’t let us settle. He has closed doors, or made it clear in other ways that this is not the path to take. I say ALL THIS to say. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, be captivated and satisfied in Him and Him alone. Then everything else will fall in place. This thought has been in my head today. “Just keep your eyes on Christ and then you will be able to discern His will for you.” Ok…I think I’m done. IT IS LATE and this is LONG, and I have to be up in OOOHHH 4 hrs…AWESOME. Praise God for coffee!!! So I better go, but I wanted to get this down while I had the chance.
I love that verse, Prove 37:4 because the most important part is the Delight yourself in the Lord part. What the girls were doing by focusing on what they didn’t have yet, is what we as Christians do all the time when we are waiting on the desires of our hearts to be met. We are focusing on the wrong thing. We get so caught up in what we don’t have. We forget to focus on what we are doing and do have and enjoying where we are right now. We forget to delight in Jesus. Maybe you have heard it this way before: as we delight ourselves in Christ our desires change. The things you thought you wanted change. You begin to desire the things of God. When we desire the things God wants for us, and are delighting in and satisfied in Him, then he gives us the desires of our hearts, which are also the desires of His heart. It’s CRAZY!
I remember a story that Henry Blackaby told in the “Experiencing God” Bible study my friends and I did. He was talking about this same verse Prov 37:4 and he used a story to help illustrate it better.
His son’s birthday was coming up so Henry and his wife went out to by their son a bike. They hide it so he wouldn’t find it until his birthday. In the meantime he asked his son what he wanted for his birthday and he told him a bike, and what kind of bike he wanted. Now the bike that his son described was the not the bike he had for him. So he had to convince his son that he want the bike he already had for him. It worked! The bike the Henry had bought for his son was the bike he was wanting. So when his birthday came around and Henry gave him the bike, his son was so excited because it was exactly what he wanted.
Does that make since?? We need to delight in Jesus. Seek first the Kingdom of God. I’m probably the worst and trying to look 10 yrs down the road and not enjoying the moment. But over and over again God reminds me, even when I’m teaching a lesson, he teaches me to wait on Him. Don’t focus so much on the things you want, or want to do. Delight yourself in Me, Jesus tells us. As your delight in Me I am molding and shaping your heart to desire the things I have for you. So delight in me, and I will give you’re the desires of your heart.
The other morning as I was reading my devotion the Lord just reminded me “I will not let your settle for less than I have for you.” If you knew me and my story, I praise God for His stubborn love for me. Only when His way and my way are the same, which comes through seeking after Him, do I get what I desire. But there have been times when I thought I wanted something, but God and his sovereignty knows what is best and the plans he has. So knowing that whatever I ask is “Yes” in Christ, if I get a “No,” there is a reason. OHHHH I pray I am making some since!!! Sometimes we think we want something but it’s not God’s best, and out of His grace, mercy, and love he doesn’t let us settle. He has closed doors, or made it clear in other ways that this is not the path to take. I say ALL THIS to say. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, be captivated and satisfied in Him and Him alone. Then everything else will fall in place. This thought has been in my head today. “Just keep your eyes on Christ and then you will be able to discern His will for you.” Ok…I think I’m done. IT IS LATE and this is LONG, and I have to be up in OOOHHH 4 hrs…AWESOME. Praise God for coffee!!! So I better go, but I wanted to get this down while I had the chance.
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