WAITING WELL ON AN TIME GOD

A month ago, one of my friends asked me to plan this event for Easter. I had been thinking of getting into event planning so I thought "get the products and also add more events to my portfolio". I remember ordering everything and in one of my orders, i had gotten this product that happened to be a preorder. It took about 10 ten days before it was shipped and i was worried it wouldn't come in time. I was praying everyday that the products would come at least on the 18th since the event was on the 20th and the order said it would arrive on the 21st. During this time, there were multiple things that I was praying and believing for so when the package came on the 16th, my faith skyrocketed. I was in awe of God. Still am. It might have seemed so simple but to me it showed that even when my circumstances changed and were frustrating He remained constant and is someone I can trust to show up when i need Him. Later that week, I got another event to plan and when we finally decided on the theme for the event, I ordered the things  and the same thing happened except the package was sent for delivery and then returned back to the carrier facility and the date changed from the 17th to the 22nd. Both events were on Easter so I needed to get them such that I could set up earlier  and not rush.I was so full of faith and thought to myself that this has happened before so God can definitely work this out. I remember praying and saying something like " God i know you can do this and I'm believing in faith that it'll come today by 10pm". I was giving God timelines! I'm still shocked at my audacity. You'd think that I would have learned but no. I kept praying like this and  slowly I was losing hope cause I knew God had done it before so my question was "why?. Why didn't He answer it this time?"  And the holy spirit convicted me and showed me how unwilling i was to submit to the will of God and how impatient i was. He made me realize i was treating God like a genie, let alone servant.I was praying with entitlement believing that God had to do it for me yet i didn't deserve it to begin with.It was in His mercy that He allowed  it to happen and so instead of coming with gratitude, i showed up in pride. Once I realized that,i felt grieved that i had treated Him like that and then I finally surrendered to His will. It would happen in His timing. The day of the event was here and the products had not shown up yet. The time went from 6am to 7 and then to 12pm and it still wasn't here but i had decided to trust and leave it up God. My friend whose package i was waiting for came by to get the products so we could set up her place. I mentioned that i was still waiting  on the package and she said "I thought we had moved on from that" and i said" I didn't move on". I remember so vividly her saying " OK. let me go check and see if the package is here."  She opens the door and there it was! It was 12.38pm and her event was at 4 but I needed to rush in between venues to do some last minute touch ups. 

 Psalms 27 : 14 says " Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let you heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord"

When you are waiting on something on a package, you have an understanding  and expectation that it will come with estimate days  but it is not always a guarantee that it will come on those exact dates. Sometimes it comes earlier other times it comes much later. In the same way, when we are waiting on the Lord, we have an understanding of what we are hoping for and sometimes God does give us what we are hoping for on the timeline we are hoping and praying for but for when it will actually come is up to the Lord. Take Abraham for example. When he was 75, God gave Him a promise of how he would be the father of many nations but his wife Sarah was past child bearing age. It was not until Abraham was 100 that he saw the fulfillment of the word he had from the Lord. They waited 25 years for this promise.

James 1 :2-3 says Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

During this time the Lord was building Abraham's character and endurance. In holding on to the character God had revealed to him was Abraham able to keep holding on. This verse talks of how trials are something we should expect but in these trials perseverance is built. Our faith is not dependent on the circumstance but on the God who defies all logic and human understanding. Sarah was past the child-bearing age and in terms of reality, she would have been unable to have any kids. It makes no sense realistically but by the hands of a divine and all powerful God anything was possible. This did not mean Abraham did not doubt.

Genesis 15: 2-6 says But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

We see him doubting again  and God in His mercy and patience speaking the same promise even in his doubt in Genesis 17 :17-21

Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”  And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.

For Abraham to walk in faith of what God was pouring out to him as a promise, the Lord poured out a word over Abraham [father of many nations ] and through the revelation Abraham received of the Lord's character through their relationship, he was able to hold on.We need to trust in Him and know that He has good plans for us regardless of whether or not your prayer is answered. They may not look like how we'd like them to but His ways are not our ways. God is outside of time so he is already in your future. He already knows what will happen and He is weaving together the story. We trust not on the promise but on Him. This is why it's essential to know His character because it will keep you. How we react in our waiting is really important because it shows us where we stand with the Lord and how much more we need to depend on Him. I don't know what you are waiting on but trust in His character and understand that sometimes it feels frustrating because there's no breakthrough. it feels like time is going by and you're waiting on this thing and trusting the Lord for but he has better plans for us. As long as we keep waiting confidently He will do whatever He will do.It is in the valleys that we grow, ask that the Lord would shift your perspective and see where He needs you to grow while you are waiting

Prayer

Lord i need your help. Thank you that you are always mindful of me even when i doubt. Thank you that you never departed from me whenever i was frustrated that things weren't going my way. Help me surrender my will into your hands and live a life in submission to you in mind ,body and soul. Help me create room for your will to be done in my life. Help me live according to your will and not mine. That i will truly understand that I am not my own but you bought me at a price.Help me serve you and not my desires or wants. I pray that you would help me wait well. James talks of how we should consider it fortunate when we go through trials. Help shift my perspective and see these valleys as a place of growth and not judgement. I love you Lord. 

In Jesus name. Amen.