I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to Go at God’s Pace

I am struggling with God’s pace. I need to let go and allow Him to take the lead, rather than rushing ahead, which often leads to trouble. Paul understood the importance of letting the Lord set the pace and not getting ahead of God. He describes his experience after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus to the Galatian church by saying, “…Then it pleased Him [God] to reveal His Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being… Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus. Then three years later I went to Jerusalem…” (Galatians 1:15b-18, NLT). Three years after Paul’s encounter with Jesus, he went to Jerusalem. Three years before he felt God calling him into his ministry. Paul was an enthusiastic guy! He was a doer. He was known for his ability to take action. He made it his mission to eliminate Christianity from the world! Paul was a “take no prisoners” kind of guy. So, three years of waiting was probably not his style. But there he was,

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I Choose Today to Wait with Purpose

How does one wait well? Waiting with a purpose is a healthy way to approach our wait. There are so many examples of waiting in scripture: Abraham waiting till he was 100 to see God’s promise come to fruition; Joseph waiting over a decade as a slave/prisoner for God to delivery him to his destiny; The Israelites waiting 40 years to reach the promised land; As well as waiting for the most important  promise of all: the coming Messiah, Jesus. Waiting is not special to us here in our time; it is a common theme. It is how we handle the waiting that matters. Just as Charles Spurgeon says, “If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people” So we wait with confidence, assurance, and boldness, trusting that the Lord is guiding us through the waiting period to shape us into His best for His glory and according to His

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I Choose Today to Know there is Purpose in Pain and Waiting

There is purpose in the waiting; there is purpose in the pain. There is an expression “it will be worth the wait.” Well, God ALWAYS shows us that His timing is worth the wait. The account of what happened when Lazarus dies (falls asleep) (John 11:1-44) shows us so much about Jesus and the power He has over death. He wanted to illustrate a point; He wanted to show the people (of the time and all those since) that He alone has the power and was sent to conquer death. It showed His divinity. But He also showed His humanity and love by having compassion for His friends’ pain. Which by weeping with them, showing compassion for them, comforting them, He illustrated how He would do the same for us. He was showing us how He responds to our pain. It seems to me that it is easy for us to understand that Jesus conquered death and that He is compassionate and understands our pain. But the waiting? We don’t get it. Am I on target or am I the only one who has a hard time understanding it? Just as Jesus was illustrating a point of His power over

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I Choose Today to go at God’s pace

I am struggling though with God’s pace. I need to let go and allow Him to take the lead, rather than rushing ahead, which often leads to trouble. Paul understood the importance of letting the Lord set the pace and not getting ahead of God. He describes his experience after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus to the Galatian church by saying, “…Then it pleased Him [God] to reveal His Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being… Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus. Then three years later I went to Jerusalem…” Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬b-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Three years after Paul’s encounter with Jesus he went to Jerusalem. Three years before he felt God calling him into his ministry. Paul was an enthusiastic guy! He was a doer. He was known for his ability to take action. He was well known by all as the one who made it his mission to eliminate Christianity from the world! Paul was a “take no prisoners” kind of guy. So three years of

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To Wait Expectantly…

Habakkuk 2:1 demonstrates waiting expectantly for God to answer him when he states, “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how He will answer my complaint.”  ‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I love what Habakkuk did here. He stated his complaint, his doubts, his fears to God. Habakkuk was honest with God in how he felt about what was happening around him. But he didn’t just tell Him what was on his heart and walk away, nor did he think that God wasn’t listening, didn’t care, or wouldn’t respond/act on his complaint. No, Habakkuk did something remarkable; he set himself in a position to hear from God. He climb up to his watchtower. He set himself above the fray, above the noise and chaos, above any distractions. There he stood watching, waiting expectantly for God to answer. Even though Habakkuk was complaining to God about his circumstances, he was waiting expectantly for God’s response. Habakkuk’s example is a reminder for me to live and wait expectantly. Expect God to listen. Expect God to care. Expect God to answer. To position myself – above the fray, the

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