God's Will and Waiting

Ever question if you put your will before God’s? Well, that is what I have wondered on and off over the last 14 days as we waited to hear whether the house would actually go to settlement (supposed to close Aug 31) after already moving out here to TN. We already know that the delay has had blessings because there is no way that I would have had the house ready on Aug 31; that took us an extra few days (with travel time in there to boot).

Waiting has never been my strength. When I wait, I usually lose faith in whatever it was that I felt so confident about just a short time ago. Yet, through all of the last two weeks, God has reminded me through my Bible reading time, through conversations with friends, through a new devotional my sister’s church is doing, through just about everything that I have read, that His timing is always perfect, and that waiting will draw me closing to Him.

A popular song right now belts out, “While I’m waiting, I will serve you.” As I have waited, I haven’t always done that—I have fretted and worried and wondered in between the times of truly holding tight to His hand and knowing that He will work all things out for our good. Thankfully, He is faithful even when I am not, and this time of waiting has strengthened my desire to learn more about Him, to trust Him in ALL things, and to know that I can forever be confident in His ways, whether I understand them or not.

BTW…
The children are loving their homeschool co-op here, and being near my family has been phenomenal. I was sicker than I have been in more than 2 years, and having the boys able to receive love and guidance and instruction while I was unable to function was such a blessing. God has moved and worked and protected and guided. The family will all be together again briefly this week when Jim flies in today for a conference later this week here in Nashville. He works 7 in a row at the hospital next week, and then he will be done with his work there.

Whimpering

As I was packing the other day, my dog began to whimper. He followed me around, getting under foot constantly. I had many things to do, and one of them was preparing a better spot for him to ride in. You see, with four children and all our things, usually, the dog gets stuck down at the feet of two of the children when we travel. But, knowing that many trips were coming up, I wanted to prepare a better place for him. He rides well, obeys when we tell him to lie back down, and I wanted to ease his discomfort while also rewarding his good behavior. But, his whimpering was about to drive me mad. He was so concerned about getting left behind that he didn’t notice all the things that I was doing concerning him… bringing his dog dishes, gathering his leash and his brush, removing a seat, placing a blanket, etc. Even once he got to run outside and jump into the van, he ignored all the extra work I put into making a better place for him. He would not go into his new spot for anything. It took almost 14 hours of driving before he realized that not only would he still be coming with us if he moved to this new place, but that he would be more comfortable in the new place, too.

We are so like that dog of mine. We ask God for something, whimper and moan and groan while He is preparing things, and then we don’t even move into the new and better place He has prepared until He has had to show us a few dozen times that it truly is better.

God will never leave us behind. He is preparing a wonderful place for each of us, not only in heaven but also here on earth. He is listening, He is loving, He is patient (thankfully) during our whimpering. Most of all, His abundance of grace and mercy and love will never cease to bring us into better and better places.