Just When You Are About To Give Up - Lisa U Maki
In these past years that I have known God, one of His characteristics that never failed to amuse me is His "grand entrance at the last minute". In so many different times in my walk with Him, it seemed like He came to my rescue just when I was about to give up... when my tears have ran dry... or when there was no strength left in me. I used to wonder why He did that to me. Now I know why.
Just as a young child will always demand for things that he doesn't have a clue about, young Christians ask God for things they don't even understand. I was this way. I was praying for a lot of things that, had God given it to me at that time, was something I wouldn't even have handled well.
I was a fiery, faith-walker even during the early years of my walk. Yet what I lacked was the virtue of patience. I thought back then that if God reveals the future to me, it will happen the next day, or pretty soon, based on my timelines. When He revealed to me who my husband was going to be, I thought we were going to get married that year. When things didn't turn out the way I thought they would, I got very impatient. This impatience delayed my journey all the more, which made me more disappointed. It almost wore me out. I cried and prayed and pleaded my case before God but He didn't even budge. It was only upon my surrender that God immediately came to my rescue.
God wants us to totally surrender to Him so He can take control of our lives, which we can't manage on our own. It is our stubbornness that gets in the way of God's greater blessings for us. And it is sad that we have to wait for our breaking point before we finally raise our hands in surrender to Him. It was not God but I who delayed the answers to my own prayers.
Back then, I was so sure that Jason (my husband) was going to be my husband because God said so. I had a Word from the Lord and a prophecy from a prophet. Nothing and no one could stop me from believing in and claiming for God's promise. I was very expectant! Yet, my expectancy was based on my own time frame and not God's. I thought I had God all figured out.
God will never allow Himself to be totally figured out. Though He reveals Himself to us, He will always leave that air of mystery about Him. He can never be manipulated or put into our man-made boxes. So while I was expecting to be with my promised man early in 2006, God's plan was for us to meet again in late 2007. As if that was not enough, God only allowed us to be together for three weeks and separated again for a year. God was teaching me a valuable lesson in surrender back then that I was not getting.
Patience... surrender... total trust... these are lessons that God was teaching me at that time and the reasons why He always came at the last minute for me. These may also be the lessons and reasons why you are going through the same thing... why God seems quiet... why God has not answered your prayers... why God's promise is taking forever to get fulfilled.
Other than these, He is still completing a process that He has started in you. He is preparing you. He is healing you. And don't forget that there are other characters in your story that God is working on.
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is tested, activated, and stretched during our trying times and during our waiting seasons. When God is silent, He is quietly watching your faith grow.
If you are about to give up... if you are ready to throw in the towel... if you are so tired and weary... take courage. Your blessing is just around the corner. It will never be delayed because God is always on time. The reason why you are going through that is because that baby is about to be born. You are experiencing birth pains. A little more push and the baby will come out. Then you will not even remember the hardships you've been through.
In His appointed time, He moves in haste.
Isaiah 60:22
Lisa Maki is the founder of God'z Gurlz, a Bible-based online magazine for women whose mission is to is to provide a place where women can learn to manage their emotions, experience healing, receive love and acceptance, be free to be who God made them to be, and be the best they can be in their homes, schools, professions, relationships, and calling, through sharing of insights and experiences, counseling, prayer, and devotionals, thereby learning from and supporting each other. For more of Lisa's articles, visit http://godzgurlz.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_U_Maki Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7097339