Waiting on God – Practical Insights, by Dr. Annette

How to know if you are walking in the Spirit Part 4

Patience

The way to know whether you or someone else is walking in the Spirit is by the fruit it produces. This week we are looking at the fruit and word ‘patience.’ This word is found in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23) gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” It is interesting to me that this is mentioned in the bible in many different passages, and with the use of another word such as ‘waiting on God.’

Waiting on God takes patience, I have heard it said don’t ask for patience because then you’ll have to go through trails. That is not what the word says. It tells us that we must add to our faith and that as we have patience we will become mature. If we have no trials, how do you know if we are growing in patience?

James 1: 2-4 “Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

What does the word patience mean? It means “The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” Cambridge Dictionary “The ability to wait or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed.”

Well now that we know exactly what patience looks like, how do we apply patience in situations? I personally think we need to step back in our thinking when a situation is out of our control and speak truths to yourself. I speak the word of God to myself to remind myself God is in control. My trust is not in the situation it is in Almighty God who works on my behalf. I trust my life to my Lord and Savior. It is important to step back emotionally so that we can hear clearly and make wise decisions. I do this by speaking truths to myself concerning whatever situation it is.

On Thursday, a friend and I were in a car accident. I was not driving she was cut off in the roundabout and had to apply her breaks it was icy and the person behind us could not stop. This young girl was shaken as we too, but we were gracious and patient with her. Being older and having experienced an accident before we managed to bring comfort with our words and actions. We had to wait for the police and wait through insurance calls. With all of that going on it was important for us to have patience. Being calm in stressful situations brings peace to the situation.

My friend’s car unfortunately was damaged and now she will have to wait for it to be repaired. I was looking sideways talking to her when we were cut off and then hit so I have a mild whiplash, so I have a waiting also as I heal. All of that is just one experience of patience in action.

As we go through life, we all have different opportunities to develop and walk out patience. If you struggle with patience know that when you are His child, He is always working on conforming you into Christlikeness and we know Jesus walked in patience. Jesus endured opposition, difficulties and pressure on all sides such as family, religious and cultural pressure. Plus, He was tortured, spit upon and carried the sins of the world without complaint. The Bible says He was tempted in all areas but sinned not.

Since patience is a part of the fruit of the Spirit you will know then by that fruit if you are walking and being led by the Spirit. This aspect is a practical way in understanding the importance of our actions, attitudes and words. What we do and say truly does affect those around us and this is a byproduct of either our flesh or the Spirit.

The promise is in the wait.

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.

Direction…

What way are you going to go?

I read recently in Jeremiah 40:4 “The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said… 4) And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.”

This scripture has stayed on my heart since I read this. I’ve been thinking about the fact that because Jeremiah had spoken for God and it came to pass here is the Captain of the guard is ready to let him go. What is interesting to me is, He’s offering Jeremiah options.

Just like God provides us with options too. He frees us from chains of oppression and gives us liberty to choose. Precisely the same as Jeremiah got a choice of what direction he wanted to go. At times we can be liberated from a bondage and we are making a choice which seems best, but we end up right back into the bondage we left. That might be because we didn’t seek God for direction, and we decide to go back to the familiar.

Jeremiah didn’t choose right away. I believe He was waiting on God for His direction. We also will have to wait on God for direction when it’s unclear which direction to go.

“The word direction is defined as the path that someone takes, the path that must be taken to reach a specific place, the way you are facing.” Dictionary.com

I find it interesting to note that it says I free you of the chains being plural on your hand being singular. It appears only one hand had the chains on so throughout his captivity he can move around a bit. It’s the same thing for us we may be free in certain areas of our lives and then other areas there can be bondage. God desires to provide you with freedom in every area of life.

In this passage of scripture, the hand in the Hebrew Dictionary means “(the open one) [indicating power, means, direction] …”

Nebuzaradan the Captain of the Guard was providing Jeremiah freedom to go with the power to decide where he would like to go. Nebuzaradan also provided Jeremiah rations and a gift and let him go. When God liberates us, he doesn’t let you go empty handed he provides for the needs you have.

What is tying up your hand which makes you feel or believe you can’t go and do? What chain is preventing you from going in the right direction God needs for you to go? It’s as easy as releasing it over to God.

When we are unclear of our next step take time out and press into the Spirit in prayer and wait on God. He will reply to you. Knowing the correct way to go in life decisions may also be made easier if you line up to Gods Word. God’s word never steers us in the wrong direction.

What may be difficult in determining what is holding the hand from doing the things that you want is fear. Fear of failure or fear of the wrong choice. Fear does not necessarily need to prevent you from making a choice. Sometimes saying to yourself if I fail at least I attempted can help you to conquer making the step, fear can look a lot like a chain on your hand, but God wants to break this chain off your hand.

Jesus came to provide us with life abundantly and whatever is preventing you from full movement or surrender He will set you free. What ever direction you need to go God will lead you and set you free, but you must ask.

My prayer for you is: Father God, I lose the shackles of fear of failure and fear of making the wrong choice that is holding each person back from going and doing all they are called to do and I release them in Jesus mighty name to go and flourish for your Kingdom. Amen

https://insightsbydrannette.com/what-is-fear/

https://insightsbydrannette.com/decisions-and-decisions/

The Waiting Game…

These were worth the wait

Waiting, waiting, waiting is how it feels sometimes when situations are out of our control. We all wait for different things but still we experience waiting periods. What do you do while you wait?

We found out yesterday we have mold in our crawlspace. So, we lined up contractors and now we wait. Some could come sooner than others. But wisdom says, get an estimate from at least three contractors who do mold remediation, drainage and encapsulation. All we saw yesterday was $ signs.

As I thought about years ago when I had mold in my apartment in the ducts and walls how I was sick and hospitalized several times from lung issues before we found the mold. Fear tried to knock on my mind.

Funny thing is yesterday I had to apply what I wrote on. I refused to be afraid that one month is going to hurt us. I spoke Gods Word to it. I like this scripture when I don’t understand the whys. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Is mold good? Absolutely not but it’s good we found it because you can’t fix what you don’t know about. And that’s the problem with waiting you just don’t know. Whether it’s time, cost or how it will happen whatever the situation is you just don’t always know which then causes a waiting on.

How do you wait? One way is to remind yourself time is my friend not my enemy! However long it takes God’s got the solution and He will bring it to pass. Now it may not be the way we want but His love is greater, and His will is perfect.

That may be a hard sentence for you if you don’t know the love of God. But knowing His character and having a relationship with him helps to understand while you wait.

Sometimes we wait years. I waited 19 years for my husband Roger. He waited 24 years for me. Roger and I both were divorced. We both dated people in those years, and it taught us what we didn’t and did want in a relationship.

But eventually God connected us. We knew each other for 9 years never dated lost touch I forgot his last name, he looked for me, but I had moved from one apartment to another because of mold.

But one day in fall of 2011 he came back to the Church I was at and we reconnected. This relationship is like no other I’ve had. We have a love that is based in solid connection and commitment. We have comradery, laughter, tenderness and even disagreements. To me waiting for this relationship was worth all the years of heartache and loneliness etc.

I wrote about our wait so that you can see and hear that I understand the emotions of waiting, waiting and more waiting.

The word of God tells us in Isaiah 40:31 “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.”

What does that mean? It means those waiting on the Lord can have renewed strength while they wait. It means you can rise above the wait and not get weary while you wait. It means you can keep going while you wait, they shall walk and not faint.

But how you may be thinking. By keeping your eyes/focus on God. Remind your self your waiting on God not people or situations.