Actively Waiting: Preparing for What is Next - Encouragement Café - November 7, 2017

Actively Waiting: Preparing for What is Next
By Angela Mackey
Tuesday, November 07, 2017

“…Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.””  John 5:17 NIV

I injured my right foot over a year ago.

If you have to injure a foot I suggest you injure the left one, it is easier to drive that way.

It took nearly a year to find out what exactly was going on in my foot. A year in and out of walking boots and surgical shoes. A year of trying one thing then another to get my foot healthy.

Finally, a specialized ultrasound diagnosed the problem. It would require surgery and an extended time of non-weight bearing (in other words no driving).

So, I am in a waiting period. Waiting for my foot to heal, waiting to be able to drive, waiting to be able to walk again. If in that waiting I don’t do some physical therapy to limber up my ankle and toe, it will take a lot longer to get back to normal. It will stunt my healing and slow my progress.

Instead, I have to actively wait. While I long to run again, I first have to get my toe flexible enough to walk. I have to work so that I can put pressure on my foot first before I can expect to take a step. Regaining flexibility is tough and painful at times, but I cannot stop working while I wait to heal.

We all face waiting times. When we need to heal. We need a job, we need to rest, or we need to wait for an answer, a call, a result. But when we wait we cannot just wait like a bump on a log. No, in the waiting times God is working in us to prepare us for what is next.

He is always working and so we ought to partner with Him so we will be ready to stand, walk, run, or even fly.

What is God teaching you today, in your waiting time? Is He teaching you to trust Him, rest in His plan, about His provision? Is He reminding you that you are His treasured possession, valuable, loved, and cherished?

Is He whispering words of correction reminding you that perhaps you have misplaced where your joy comes from? Is He reminding you that in Him there is fullness of joy?

I pray we all open our eyes and our ears that we may know what God is teaching us in our actively waiting times, because He is preparing us for what is next.

What is God preparing you for?

Write down the things you need to do today or that God is teaching today so that you will be prepared for what God is going to do next in your life.

Father God, waiting is hard. We don’t like it and sometimes waiting like a bump on a log sounds good. Help us to partner with You so that while we wait we are preparing for what You have next for us. Help us to rest in knowing Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2017 by Angela Mackey.  All rights reserved.

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