Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalm 27:14

I posted this on my facebook page immediately after it happened but I didn't want to just leave it at that as the Lord really used this to speak to me in this season.

 

 

This is a great story, so keep reading! Thursday I told Keely how much I wanted to see a lightening storm and how bummed I was that there were no storms in sight during the time of my visit. She is way more faithful than I am and immediately prayed that God would send a storm. Tonight we had a VERY long drive home AND we got lost... As we finally made our way back after stopping for directions, Keely prayed again "Lord please help us and encourage us because we are your daughters and you love us". Within minutes, as we drove some deserted back road the sky was lit up with lightening!!! The show continued the whole way home and there were even a few raindrops! He is so good to us! So, the next time God takes you WAY out of the way of where you're headed instead of getting frustrated ask Him to help you see the blessing, because He longs to bless His kids and usually he doesn't do it our way but His is WAY better! "now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we can ask or imagine... To Him be the glory." Ephesians 3:20,21

 

 

I felt like God was screaming, "I love you!!!" to me when that lightening struck! I wish you all could have heard my squeals of delight with each strike. I believe that our God is great, He is powerful and He is so intimately connected with each one of us that He hears our meager prayers and meets them with incredible power. So, God loves me. He doesn't have to strike lightening to prove this, He has already proven His love through His Son Jesus, but in His kindess, He daily proves His love for us. Sometimes it's not so loud or obvious, it might be in a beautiful flower, a conversation with dear friend, the reminder that He's daily provided for our needs once again.

 

 

I also knew that message was more specific than that He loves me... I have found myself in that place of wandering once again and I must say it's not too enjoyable. You know the place, somewhere between where you are and where you want to be, wondering how you will ever get there and in fact unable to come up with any good reason for why you're not there other than "God has purposed it". What are His purposes? I might never know.  I think I will though, at least in my limited understanding, yet so often the important part isn't really the end result, but the process.  Even now I can see how waiting is producing fruit. It's causing me to remain on my knees, seeking His face for each step and trusting in His sovereign plan. So as God blasted lightening across the night sky in the middle of nowhere in Kansas in loving response to His daughter's plea, I saw that sometimes it feels like we are way out of the way of where we want to be or think we should be but we are there to receive God's blessings. The place you are at may not make sense, it might be uncomfortable and frustrating but there is unparalleled value in waiting on the Lord.


Here are some ways God has encouraged me in waiting in the last few weeks....

"Wait upon God for guidance as to any change in life you may determine, and if the two things be equal—to remain where you are, or to remove elsewhere—choose to abide still, for the chances are, speaking according to man’s judgment, in its favour." - Spurgeon

"Is it not, for all it's sting, a wonderful way to live [Betty]? To dream, and want and pray almost savagely; then to commit and wait and see Him pile all dreams aside and replace them with what we could not dream, the realized will?" -Jim Elliot

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18

"we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." 2 Chronicles 20:12

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring [it] to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Psalm 37