I am so grateful for the waiting seasons of life today.
While it doesn’t always feel good, I am so grateful that waiting on God is never a punishment. It’s a chance for God to USE us - and I was overwhelmed with gratitude this morning, that God calls each of us worthy to be used to bring glory to His kingdom. We are not perfect, we have fallen short countless times, and to know God STILL wants to use us? Man what A GIFT.
'I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.' (Job 23:8-10)
Job was actively looking for God in these verses, with his eyes. He did not see God in his suffering.
So the question becomes, what do we do when we cannot SEE or FEEL God? It is easy to say “ I trust God” when we don’t see or feel him for a couple of hours. But what do you do when you don’t see or feel him for months or years?
Our eyes and emotions are not always the best indicators.
The truth is that the absence of feeling God does not mean He is not working - but the enemy wants us to doubt that he is. The enemy uses fear, anxiety, confusion, restlessness, impatience, to make us question who God is. To make us question what we heard or what God placed on our hearts. Because the enemy knows more than ANYTHING, it is our relationship with God that matters most. And if he can get us to doubt God, our minds become a breeding ground for things not of God.
Two things can coexist - and the truth is no matter what valleys we walk through, God is always good.
Verse 10 starts with BUT - contradicting what is before. Job is saying I may feel as though I don’t see God, BUT he knows where I am going.
KNOW = present.
Not God knew or that God had thought before - KNOWS. Present.
Where you are GOING - your suffering, your waiting, is not your final state.
It can feel like, however, that the waiting will never end.
It can feel God’s promises are for everyone else but you - but what a gift to know that God is not DONE.
And where you are GOING, requires you to learn new things, be pruned of things, heal from things, be stripped from things, so that your testimony can point people back to him and be a reminder that waiting is not punishment. And while we cannot see where we are going, God knows what we need. And what a GOOD God, that he equips us with everything we need, even before we know what we need.
'When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.' (Isaiah 43:2)
Isaiah 43:2 talks about walking THROUGH the fire and PASSING through the waters. You are being used by God, and the hard truth is that we do not get to CHOOSE how God uses us. And that’s where it gets HARD. God sometimes uses us in ways that we would rather not be used in - but the truth is that to be used by God, means that we surrender to His will, His way, and His plan.
The second half of Verse 10 says “And when he tests me, I WILL come out pure as gold” - it’s not a guess or a probability if you will make it through. God has declared YOU WILL.
YOU WILL be victorious.
YOU WILL be confident.
YOU WILL receive joy and peace and blessings in abundance.
And all that may be true - but how do you wait well? How do you wait well when the waiting feels like it is too hard to carry on?
Remember your season still has purpose, even if the answer is different than you wanted. (Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 29:11)
Bring your honest emotions to God, don’t stuff away the hard ones. God already knows what you’re thinking - and when you are honest your emotions become an indicator, but they don’t drive you. (Proverbs 14:30 MSG)
You can’t always trace God’s hand, but you can ALWAYS trust his heart. God wants all of you - he wants you in a way that you can’t even comprehend. He wants you to go so deep with him that you understand it was nothing BUT HIM that brought you through - because deep waters do not equal drowning. It can feel like sometimes you can’t even understand the depth of where God has you - but that’s why you have to trust who he has ALWAYS BEEN. He has not changed, God is not a liar, and EVERYTHING God said he will do, HE WILL. It may not be on our timing, but thank goodness it’s not. Our ways and plans are nowhere near as good as God. And if we could trace his hand, he would not be God. We aren’t entitled to know how God moves!
Community matters - open up to people. Be honest. Share vulnerably or allow someone to be vulnerable with you without judgment. The people God has blessed us with, can be so helpful in seasons when you are walking through a valley. And your honesty may give someone else permission to do the same.
I can’t tell you when it ends for you. But I do know you are passing through. And your testimony and fruit already I am so inspired by. Stay obedient, and stay the course - you are not forgotten. You are so LOVED.
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