The peace in waiting
Wow! How are you? How have you been?
I hope you are well and enjoying the changing of the seasons. I hope you’ve been less busy and more productive. I’ve been both busy and productive. The last two months were full of wonderful events, challenging obstacles, enlightening moments, emotional celebrations and major major, major growth.
Since the end of September, I’ve had the pleasure of co-hosting a leadership event for girls; working with my family to launch a fund to honor my grandmother; co-hosting a leadership event for the John Maxwell Team; speaking with kids about their career goals; honoring my son at his senior night for football; celebrating the dedication of our new center on campus; attending a Michael McDonald concert; hosting a national recording artist for a benefit concert; cheering on my son and his team at their playoff game; co-chairing a fundraising gala at Heinz Field; and meeting with more than 100 people to learn about their personal and professional goals.
Those are just the highlights.
Some of you may be overwhelmed by that schedule; others didn’t even flinch. I won’t lie — I was overwhelmed. Those events could be a lot to handle one at a time or one per quarter or one per year. Those events, my daily goals at work and my tasks at home made for quite an interesting ride.
Anyway, I share this with you to show that I’m still quite busy. But now my busyness is a function of consultation with the Lord, and only works if I seek Him first and then act. I know, I know. You are thinking, “She just told us a few weeks ago that we should stop being busy.” You’re right … sort of.
You should refrain from living a life of busyness. Rid yourself of robotic habits that have you running from here to there, losing focus of God’s plan for your life and your purpose on earth. It’s a recipe for disaster. Believe me, I’ve been there. Although there were times during that eight-week period I thought I was going to lose my mind, I confidently knew I was in line with God’s plan and not my own.
I am sure if you asked anyone close to me, they would say I probably did lose it. But they would also tell you that at every breaking point and with each new responsibility, I sought God first. I went to my war room. I consulted Him. He outlined a strategy and gave me the directives to implement it.
If my steps were not ordered by the Lord, nothing would’ve been successful, no goal would’ve been reached, no life would’ve been changed. My obedience led to major growth for me and those around me. I am forever grateful for that. My obedience also gave me a team of people — in all areas of my life — who supported me and allowed me to serve God. They are His dream team. Their obedience blessed me. My obedience has also blessed me and led me to a reward: rest.
God doesn’t wish to see us so busy that we are ineffective in our lives or in service to Him. He wants to grant us rest and peace as well. For example, I was busy for eight weeks straight (actually more if you consider planning and preparation), but now I will rest for the next few months (Matthew 11:28-29). Being busy for the sake of busy, or to fill a void, is still not productive nor is it valuable. Psalm 37:32 says, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him.” We must delight in Him, follow Him first; then we will be granted the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).
Sometimes, even after we’ve sought God first, prayed and met with Him and praised Him, we must wait. The dreaded four letter word that pains any busy-body: wait. How many of you hate waiting? I mean really hate it. You hate waiting in line at the store, in traffic, for a ride, for your pizza. You hate waiting for your mom to say goodbye to everyone when she is leaving church. (That last one was more for Christians.) You hate waiting on your kids to make up their mind about where to go to school. (That one was for me.) Is that you? Are you a wait-hater? I’ve got some news for your busy-body self, there is purpose in the waiting.
One of the most frustrating scriptures I’ve read is Psalm 46:10. God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Every time I read that scripture, I feel my lip slowly rising in the left corner and my left eyebrow raising. The look on my face is memorable and one that is meant to question God. I wonder, does He remember how He made me? Does He really think that I have the capacity to wait on Him? Does He not remember I often have road rage when in traffic? You laugh; but you know it’s the truth. You probably struggle with the same things. We can’t argue with Him. We must wait on Him. Why not wait on Him? He is the Alpha and Omega. He is also omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. What do I lose if I wait? The outcome has to be better than anything I’ve dreamed up. Plus, He did a whole lot of waiting on me.
You know, there is a song that we sing at church and one of the verses says, “As I look back over my life, I can see how your love has guided me. Even though I’ve done wrong, you’ve never left me alone. You forgave me and you kept on blessing [me].” The lyrics are true. In the midst of my busyness, focusing on me and what I wanted to do and who I wanted to become, He waited on me. He watched over, protected and forgave me. He still kept on blessing me. My busyness led me away from God so many times, I don’t even know if I could recall all of them. My decision to stop and then wait has led me to more blessings than I could have ever imagined.
Friends, balance your busy. Be comfortable at rest. And seek the Lord first in all you do. Listen for His voice. He is waiting for you to answer His call.
Gina Jones is a life-long resident of Fayette County and serves the community as an encourager, educator and advocate. Learn more about Gina at www.gmarieproductions.com.