In a Season of Waiting? Delight Yourself in the Lord

We all have desires in our heart. Some of us are still waiting on those desires to come to fruition. When I was in a long season of waiting, specifically to be married, the Lord provided a few verses that were an anchor for my spirit. He began with the foundational verse for that season, which opens up a wonderful promise:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NKJ

Focus on this phrase: Delight yourself in the Lord.

We can easily make the desires of our heart an idol when our focus is on what we want, instead of pleasing God. It brings a weariness to our spirit. In delighting ourselves in the Lord, it takes our focus off of what we are waiting for and places it back on the Lord. Waiting brings strength, not weariness, if we are waiting on the Lord. (Isaiah 40:31)

The key is delighting ourselves in the Lord. Delight is a verb. It is an action of taking great pleasure in Him, to please Him or to be His pleasure. When a man’s heart is tender toward a woman, in wooing her he will want what he is, does and says to be pleasing to the woman; he is delighting himself in her. In the same way, we can be God’s pleasure.

The Bible talks about many ways to delight ourselves in the Lord. It’s not about a list to follow to make sure we are being righteous, but we delight in Him because we love Him. We will want to give our hearts fully unto Him and delight ourself in Him.

Ways to Delight Yourself in the Lord

Doing His will I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 NKJ

• Meditating on scriptures. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 NKJ
• Having an honest heart. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. Proverbs 12:22 NKJ
• Obedience. So Samuel said: Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 NKJ
• Prayer. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Proverbs 15:8 NKJ
• Being all about His Word. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight. Psalm 119:16, 24, 35, 47, 77 NKJ   

When we catch onto this concept, our heart cry becomes, “Yes, I want the desires of my heart, but I want You even more than those desires.” And through the process of delighting ourselves in the Lord, we see that He delights in us! We have His whole heart, and will always have His love.

As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. Psalm 16:3

Are you in a season of waiting?  Delight yourself in the Lord. Look up these scriptures in your Bible and begin to familiarize yourself with them. Highlight them, write them in your journal, pray them, but mostly get them in your heart! And He will give you the desires of your heart!

Image via Creative Commons: kelsey_lovefusionphoto

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4 Actions While You’re Waiting

When I posted the Beauty of Waiting it seemed to strike such a chord with so many of you. It seems like you and I are all waiting for something. I’m waiting for 4 major things right now, all of which have been several years in the running. The last 3 weeks it feels like someone is playing a cruel trick on me and I seem to have a one track mind about that lately. A loud thunderstorm in the middle of the night turned into a night watch and I prayed about that specific area. God aligned my thinking and gave me the following actions so I’m humbly sharing my counseling session with you. Ha.

4 Actions While You’re Waiting

1. Whine not. I never do this. Uh uh, never.

Being content is difficult. As I said in the recent comments Paul said that he’s learned to be content no matter what situation he’s in (Philippians 4:11), but that verse and I don’t seem to be getting along lately. But I’m working on it. My heart will begin to whine, I just want – and I’ll stop myself right there and correct where that was going. Complaining is a hinderance. Just ask those dusty Israelites. If you want God’s blessing instead of cursing (Deuteronomy 30), then your relationship with Him needs to be good.

2. Ask questions. Sorry, but not the “why me?” kind.

You probably have been asking God a slew of questions, but you may not have been asking the right kind. A major key to waiting is preparation. You need wisdom and direction in areas that will help you to prepare for that which you are waiting. Ask “What do you want me to specifically do to prepare?” Asking God for directions will channel your energy to having a proactive focus.

3. Invest your time in preparation. You asked, now obey.

Do what He lays on your heart both practically and spiritually. Think of Noah putting everything into place. God gave him many directions about how to build the ark and what to gather concerning the animals. Years ago I wanted to be in ministry, but 90 out of 100 times I was the one needing ministry. I wrote about getting your desire to come faster in another post.

4. Tell yourself God is in control. Out loud.

Go ahead, say it. It makes a difference. You are telling your spirit man what is true and you are also letting the devil know that you know God is in control. You are speaking what is true about your life. There is power that comes when you speak what God says about you. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Psalm 37:23 NKJV

You may have noticed that these 4 actions spelled out an acrostic for the word wait:

W…whine not

A…ask questions

I…invest your time in preparation

T…tell yourself God is in control

See you later, I have a list of items to tackle for my preparation in waiting.

What do you think? What helps you while you’re waiting?

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Photo via Creative Commons: Johanes Duarte 2011

The Beauty of Waiting

Often we look at a period of waiting as a time to only be patient and cast down frustrations (Romans 8:25), when we could actually dig a little deeper into how God intends the season to be a wonderful encouragement to us.

There is safety in waiting. We can know that we aren’t getting ahead of God, but are keeping pace with Him. Instead of fretting we can actually enjoy the time of delay, but only if we are resting in Him.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7a. NKJV

Sometimes when we are seeking God for what to do next, He leads us to just wait. God is God, and He is wise. He moves on His time table. He moves on His schedule. Even though we hear this frequently, waiting can be a difficult thing to do. It drives me crazy sometimes. God often teams you up with someone that will help balance you out. My husband, Justin, tends to be more cautious about beginning something new or moving to the next step. I usually wanted to have already been on step two yesterday.

The good thing about a season of waiting, though, is that it’s usually temporary.

God’s planning includes even desires coming about in their due season (Psalm 104:27). According to Webster’s New American Dictionary, sojourn means to dwell in a place temporarily. If you ever find yourself in a place where God is requiring you to sojourn on your journey with Him, then know that God has ordained this time for you to renew your strength for the next season you will be going into. The tarrying has a purpose to cause you to become fresh and strong again, even if we don’t feel weak. God knows where we are headed and what is going to happen to us and from that foresight He ordains a time of waiting.

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

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. Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

Sometimes we aren’t seeking God for what to do next, because we are just waiting on what we already know is God’s will to come to fruition. Many times when we are in a holding pattern, it’s for good reason. God usually has something for us to learn. It might be more than one thing. He will take the opportunity of our circumstance to do a work in us or impart a truth in us if we are yielded to Him.  The season of waiting is a time of preparation. That’s when we can fall back into His rest and know that it’s a beautiful thing.

What are you waiting for?

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Photo credit: Tijs Zwinkels (flickr)

 

(Previously shared June 2010)

Waiting Is…As Slow As Christmas

Photo credit: m4r00n3d (flickr)

December is that time of year when the phrase “as slow as Christmas” seems to take the most meaning. Chances are, you’ve been waiting on something for much longer. We all have dreams. A familiar verse comes to mind when I think about waiting, but it is one that has always frustrated me.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV

It’s always bothered me. Why does it leave you feeling hopeless after reading it? It shouldn’t since it’s God’s Word, after all. Or there should be verses following explaining the hidden keys to help endure the stupid waiting. But it doesn’t seem that way.

I used to read that verse frequently thinking I was supposed to be…what? miserable?..until the desire came. THEN, I would feel all better. If only this circumstance would change, or if only that would take place somehow, my desire will also come about!

But that was a trust in circumstances.

People close to me had always said, you must be patient and wait! That’s all fine and good, folks, but I wanted to be more proactive than that. I sought God for the key. What would help endure this stupid waiting?

The time frame that we’re enveloped in between the hope being deferred and the desire coming is a critical point of preparation. God does not want us to focus on our desire (or the lack of it), but on our own development. This responsibility is necessary on every level, both spiritually and in the natural.

When I see the phrase, “tree of life” in the verse above I usually think of Psalm 1:3, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” God wants us to be a healthy “tree” producing healthy “fruit” because people are going to “eat” from your fruit.

What helps endure the waiting? Allowing God to be the husbandman of your “tree.” Allow Him to cut out areas of dead, rotting fruit, even roots, and replace them with His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. If we ignore this precious time of preparation, we can cause the fulfillment of our desire to be delayed.

God has placed those desires inside you. Just as Christmas Day always finally rolls around, your desire will come! In the meantime it’s time to get those gifts ready!

I want to know: What dreams are you waiting on and how are you preparing?

About That House We Wanted

Photo credit: las.photographs (Flickr)

I’ve been asking God for a miracle in the “we need to move to a new house” department.  God brought us more finances last year when my husband’s father passed away, but that’s another story.  Since Spring we’ve been looking for a house that would meet all our needs, and still be in our price range, but it just wasn’t happening.  Do you ever get to a place where you say, “God am I out of Your will concerning this?”  I surrendered to whatever He wanted, but I asked Him to provide the extra money we needed.  The next day I got a phone call.  Boom. Some extra money! It was only half of what we needed though. “God, You’re going to make me exercise my faith, aren’t You?”

Weeks ago we found a house that was going to be just about perfect, but still too much money. I told our Realtor, Tracye, “I told God if they would lower the price we’d take it.” Later that day I remembered a dream that I had. In the dream Tracye called me and said that they will lower the price to what I had asked. I turned to my family and said, “That means we’re only going to have to pay X amount of dollars.” I got my calculator out and it turned out to be the exact amount of money in the dream with the extra money we received.  It seemed like a confirmation.  Before Tracye could ask, someone submitted an application for the asking price. “What?  But, God, I’ve been having faith!”

Later we found out it fell through. She encouraged us to put an application in at the lower price, but my husband didn’t feel a peace yet. A few days later I was starting to feel an urgency in my spirit about it and I told him, “We should put it in, and pray like we always do: Lord if it’s your will open the door, if it’s not, shut it.” He put in the application…right about the same time two other people did. We were the ones asking for less. More faith that God’s will would be done. “May I remind You God that we have needs here?”

The other Realtor handling the property chose our application to process. Boom!

After another long week, we got a call this morning. We got the house! God also provided the money for the moving expenses. So…about that house we wanted…we know it’s God’s will!  Why did we have to wait so long?  I can’t deny that it’s because He wanted to stretch our faith, and it doesn’t hurt that He gets the glory.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 1 John 5:14-15