Tag: strength

The promise is in the wait.

grass beside the sea

waiting…

There is renewal in waiting when you’re waiting on the Lord. It is how we wait and endure that defines the renewal.  If we lose sight of who we are waiting on disappointment, discouragement, or depression can creep in.  This passage in Isaiah gives us hope as we wait it shows the way Jacob and Israel thought, it exposes for us how are thoughts can affect us. There are promises in waiting on the Lord, don’t lose sight and heart in the wait.

Isaiah 40:27-31 “27 Why do you say, O Jacob and speak O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God? 28 “Have you not known? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary, His understanding is unsearchable 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

We wait on God not man, so often we put our expectation on man looking at man as the one who gives us what we need and then our focus becomes distorted because man is just a man, but God wants us to wait on the Lord.

When you wait there is strength in the wait for you. Therefore, let your focus be aligned to God not self, man or the circumstance. That does not mean you just sit still and do nothing it means your spirit, soul and body is trusting in the Lord for the promise He gave you.

They shall mount up with wings ‘mount up’ preparation for flight effortlessly not striving. Mount up means to increase in something. As you wait you are increasing in the fruit of the spirit, Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control if you are waiting on the Lord with an expectancy from God.  When our eyes get on man or earthly outcomes we can slowly slip into flesh. The flesh has fruit too, but it is rotten fruit adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries let us not think one is worse than the other their all fleshly, carnal and sin.

‘They shall run and not be weary’ running the race before you with renewed strength to endure. The race of life is not competition, comparing or cheating, but running daily the race of life is Kingdom living. Putting God’s Kingdom and ways first, with a heart to love the Lord with all your heart and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself. You can run the race of life without the Kingdom of God, but it will account for you eternally as nothing.

They shall walk and not faint your walk with Christ is first private, then public if your private walk is not maintained it will affect your public walk eventually. We cannot walk on two different paths and maintain our walk with Christ. Waiting on God takes time, it is not a waste of time to wait, because in the wait we are renewed, refined and fired by the heat of the furnace of life.

God gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength. Those who wait on the Lord are promised renewed strength. If you are feeling worn out or frustrated, because it has not gone your way, it is time to surrender your disappointments, frustrations, and wait on God. Let the Spirit of the Lord renew you as you surrender your plans to Him. God has perfect timing.

What seems like a suddenly for someone really is God’s timing they have been in a ‘waiting on Him’ without anyone knowing. I have heard it said God is never late and never early or in a hurry. I don’t know if that is true, but I think at times it feels like it may be true. We must trust God in our life situations. Only He knows the outcome for all. When we keep our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith you can rest assured, He will work in your life and bring about His plans and purposes.

It is good to have goals and plans I personally like organization; I like everything to have its place, but life can throw curve balls that are unexpected and hard to navigate. Trusting God in these times can bring a sense of calm even though in the natural, it is crisis. But God’s word gives us promises to hold onto. But those who wait on the Lord shall be renewed, the bible says, and I have experienced in my life renewal during hard and disappointing setbacks in delays. I have seen God take a mess and create peace when I surrender it to him.

Today if you are waiting in uncertainty put your trust in the Lord, He will take care of you.

How to make your word valuable…

How important is your word to someone? Years ago, people made agreements based on their word and a handshake. But now people have contracts and legal documents to hold individuals to their word. Why is that? Because the handshake and giving of their word no longer worked. People stopped caring about honoring their word.

I personally believe if you say it, you should do it. I believe it is biblical to honor your word. The scripture is found in Psalm 15:4. It’s a sign of maturity. We need to try to keep our word unless an emergency comes up or sickness prevents. It helps people to trust you. There is value in knowing someone is reliable.

Here are three practices to help honor your word.

The first method is taught by Jesus. He said, “let your yes be yes and your no be no.” Anything that is added means it depends on such as ‘I’ll try, or maybe, will see.’ You might as well say no because this is always a back doorway out, it means if something better comes up, you’re not available. Be honest with yourself by knowing your boundaries and limits. Over commitments tend to make a person unreliable which leads to a lack of trust.

Secondly, keep track of your commitments by writing them down or putting them in your phone calendar. I’m a little old school I still carry a calendar. Whatever way you prefer, use it to keep track of your appointments and commitments this helps you to remember what you committed to. This produces an excellent work ethic and people will trust you.

Thirdly, Psalm 15:4 says, “…honor your word even when it hurts.” It’s not always easy and sometimes its really difficult but it will build good character and strength in you. Our word is important it builds trust when we follow through with what we have said. It really is a good character strength to have. Try thinking about what you really mean before you answer so your word will not be misinterpreted. I prefer to think about my answer because I know if I say it, I will do it.

Commitment to your word adds value to your reputation.

What Kind of Strength Do You Need?

Where does strength come from? Are there several types of strength? How do you measure strength? These are a few questions we will look at. First there are various categories of strength. There is physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength they may vary in description but can be seen as strength.

The word strength in English means “The quality of state of being physically strong.” Being Physically strong comes through muscle mass and working the muscles. You don’t have to be tall to be strong you just have to have muscle strength to be strong physically.

Mental strength comes through endurance of learning and applying what you have learned. Even when one has a learning disability through help and training, they can learn and grow. Mental strength to me isn’t about how intelligent you are it’s about your ability to continue on and keep going. Mental strength can be seen in the attitude of not giving up and keep trying. When we give up and quit, we lose ground mentally. If it doesn’t work, try another way. After writing my definition I looked up what Wikipedia states, mental strength is “used colloquially to refer to any set of positive attributes that helps a person to cope with difficult situations.”

I also believe we can have strength physically, mentally and emotional strength to endure hardships, setbacks, failures etc. Demanding situations do affect us all differently. When one looks at hardships through the impact of our emotions it is draining. Pain produces feelings and feelings can be caused by real or imagined perspectives. Although both causes emotional upset when your emotional strength is low. Pain is a warning signal something is wrong. Emotional strength doesn’t mean you don’t feel it just means you allow your feelings/emotions, and you manage them in healthy ways. Such as when I’m sad I cry, when I’m happy I smile and laugh etc. repressing our emotions isn’t strength it’s an avoidance mechanism.

The importance of spiritual strength is found in the Word of God. Psalms 84: 5-7 “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage, 6) As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools, 7) they go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.”

Spiritual strength comes from a relationship with God. It not only comes from the relationship and it comes from God himself. He will infuse strength into you when you need it. It’s called grace. Grace has different qualities, and one is infused strength. The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians that he learned to be abased and to abound. He learned he could do all things through Christ who gave him strength.

I think it’ important to realize when we are weak, He is strong in us. To me real spiritual strength isn’t mustered up but comes from the abiding strength of Jesus. His strength infused into our spirit, soul and body as we ask, rely on and walk in Him.

The Valley of Baca is a place of tears and mourning. Baca means “crying” and is translated “Valley of Mourning.”  When we walk through losses of all kinds God gives strength to have ‘from strength to strength.’ As you look to Him for your strength you can be assured, He is with you and will support you and you can make it through with and in His strength. As a child of God, you are not alone He is with you always.

If you need more strength, just ask He will give you more.

While you Wait…

From strength to strength…

Yesterday Sept 27th I had to have an ultrasound. Since Sept 18th when I had the cast removed from my left leg it has been blueish and cold when I’m up and moving on the knee scooter.

So, I called the doctor’s office and they said the Dr wanted an ultrasound. Since we live and hour away, I asked to have it done here. They called and set it up for 3pm.

We go and it’s the wrong order they sent over a order for my right leg. We waited while radiology calls and gets a fax for the left leg.

As we wait time ticks by… they get the new order and call me back for the ultrasound. The lady doing the ultrasound was very nice, but they can’t tell you anything.

I have it done, and it was painful, and I was very tired. She said are you supposed to wait for the Radiologist report or is Dr. office calling I said they are calling. Mind you I wasn’t thinking about the time change. She said ok and we left for home.

Since the Dr office is on Eastern Time and we are on Central time I wasn’t thinking about them being closed. After we get home my left foot and ankle hurt bad and I was exhausted I went straight to bed it helps to elevate the leg. I fell asleep woke up around 6ish central time and knew no way the Dr office was going to call especially since it’s 7ish their time.

So, we wait.  I read in the Word of God this morning in Psalm 84: 5-7 “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You whose heart is set on pilgrimage. 6)-As they pass trough the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; 7)-They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.”

The word baca has a few different meanings but a place of weeping is relevant to this blog. I read on the internet, “the psalmist is referring to a difficult or sorrowful place in life.” Yesterday was a difficult place in life.

Therefore, what do we do while we go through difficult periods? Difficult periods can be waiting period’s also.

I believe first we trust God in the waiting periods.  How do you trust God? It goes back to the knowing who He is and understanding his character.

I know God is faithful he’s proven over and over to me his faithfulness. So yes, it’s frustrating I would like to know if there is a blood clot or not, but I don’t.

So therefore, I trust God who does know and who cares for me.

My second thought on what to do while you wait is put your thoughts on God not the problem. When you put your thoughts on God His peace will be with you as you wait.  I speak the truth according to Gods word to my problem and  His peace guards my heart and mind.

Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. 4)-Trust in the LORD forever, For in Yah, the LORD, is everlasting strength.”

This could be also called from strength to strength because as you trust while you wait God strengthens your inner man. My strength comes from the Lord not me.

I’m waiting on God not man/Dr office. God is faithful. Whether it is or isn’t a clot doesn’t matter to me because either way I’ll be ok.

With God I can do all things through God who strengthens me while I wait.