Tag Archives: patience

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Limbo

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I am not talking about the game where you duck under a broom to some fun music, I am talking about that in-between stage in your life when you know change is coming, yet you lack the details.

Limbo- an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition.

You know something is coming, something big. Usually it involves some kind of change, maybe a promotion, or a change in lifestyle, or a new spiritual level. My husband gets excited in this place. I get scared. (Yep, God put us together for a reason.)

I have to admit, I don’t so much get anxious anymore, but I do feel like the “Velveteen Rabbit” the abandoned favorite toy. I feel like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what. I find myself feeling stretched, but I don’t know why. I feel like just around the corner is something exciting, but I don’t know what. If you know me at all, you know I hate change. I want to know the plan and there better be one. I am not real spontaneous. So this in-between time, this limbo is a very uncomfortable time for me. Another reason it isn’t a fun place is that there is just too much “feeling” going on which is made evident in this paragraph. It is a place where you have to bypass all of those feelings and stand in faith. You have to blindly put your trust in Him who is trustworthy.

Another reason I don’t enjoy this state of limbo is because usually it means letting go of something. I was in limbo right before I left my secular job and started in the full time ministry. I was in limbo right before I left the ministry of working at my Church. (I am still in the ministry, just not at my church building.) It took a while to know what the changes were going to be. It was scary stepping out into the full time ministry. Finances were slim, new enemy attacks were coming, more faith was required! It was just as scary leaving the place that I worked and ministered for thirteen years to begin working from home. Who would I talk to, who would pray for me on the spot when I needed it, how would I stay in the loop? All things that I fretted about. I have been in limbo so many times during my life and I am starting to get that feeling again lately.

I can honestly say that every time I made the transition from one level to the next, even though I thought it was scary and totally plan-less, God had a plan. He knew what He was doing. Even when I didn’t understand how, or why, or when, or pretty much anything, He did. My life was always better on the other side. There was greater faith, more blessings, more fruit coming out of the old and into the new.

And those times in-between of waiting and praying?

Those brought patience and maturity.

Are you doing the limbo? Do you feel like you are off balance and ready to topple, or ready to knock your noggin on that broom stick?

Don’t fret!

There is a promotion on the other side!

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV), “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

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Confession From Romans

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I am dead to sin and alive in Christ.
Sin is not my master, for I am not under the law, but under grace.
I am free from sin and a slave of righteousness.
I will exult and triumph in times of trouble, and rejoice in my suffering knowing that it is working patience in me.
I am not condemned.
Because I am led by the Spirit of God, I am a child of God.
His Spirit bears witness with mine that I am his child.
I am an heir and a joint heir with Christ.
I will suffer with Him and be glorified with Him.
The suffering of this present time are not to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in me.
I will wait with patience and composure for those unseen things I hope for.
God causes all things to work together for my good, because I love Him and am called to His purpose.
I am predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.
God is for me, so no one can be successfully against me!
I am convinced! Nothing can separate me from the love of God!

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Perfection

Matthew 5:48 “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect [that is, grow into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity].

God see’s the end from the beginning. He can see the finish line, the finished product. He sees His children as perfect. As the Master Potter-He designed you just the way He wanted you. The whole time with the picture in His mind of what you will be when you are complete and mature.

But there is work to be done. Molding. Shaping. Kneading. Glazing. Firing. All to get us to the finished, expected end, a vessel of honor. The Master Potter never makes all of His vessels the same. He isn’t a mass-market-producer. He hand crafts each one individually. Some of us may have similar gifts and talents, similar calls on our lives, but we each have a special, individual personality that God uses in a unique way for his purpose. We can’t judge ourselves by what we see in others. We can’t think we are worse (or better) than anyone else. The Master Potter made you the way He saw fit.

God looks at me and sees the finished design. To Him, I have already made it through the fire, without cracking or breaking, with no flaws or blemishes, perfectly formed and beautiful. I may see my flaws, my mistakes and struggles. Or maybe I didn’t let the Potter finish the job, jumping out of the fire, trying to fashion myself in the image of what I want to be, or worse yet, how others see me. I have to place myself, willingly, in His hands, asking Him, “What do you want me to do,” and “Who do you want me to be.” Sometimes we have to start all from scratch and ask Him, “How do you see me,” and if we aren’t even close, ask Him to start over and re-make us again. It’s like looking at a blueprint before the foundation is even laid.

I am being perfected, through trials, test and just plain living. As I stand on His word and build a relationship with Him, connect with other believers and join a church family, I am growing and maturing. Those rough edges are being smoothed over just like river rocks.

I am being perfected by being patient and persevering. One pastor recently put it this way, “Persistence destroys resistance.” Refusing to back down or give up. I can’t grow weary in well doing. I press towards the mark. I run (or walk, sometimes plod) towards the finish line. Like Paul, I will win the prize! God’s strength keeps me going. His joy sustains me. His promises give me hope. There is Light at the end of the tunnel.

I haven’t arrived yet-but I am on my way!

“But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.” James 1:4

“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

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Who Is My Enemy

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“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Our enemies are not made of flesh and blood. We all know that right? We’ve heard it preached, taught and we’ve read it ourselves in God’s word. People are not our enemies. But, honestly, that is hard to remember at times. We can be so easily irritated by that one person (or sometimes several different people). I have found myself, more times than I am comfortable admitting to, wanting to “lay hands on” someone because of their words or actions and it had nothing to do with prayer or imparting gifts! Or as my grandson likes to say “give them a five knuckle sandwich.” It’s easier to see the carrier, the messenger, than the real enemy. Our enemy is Satan. He comes to only kill, steal and destroy. He and his minions are spirit and can only operate through people. My pastor uses the term, “principalities that use personalities.” That person that antagonizes, manipulates, irritates, brings division and harm, is operating under the influence, and sometimes control, of an evil spirit and most of the time they aren’t even aware of that fact. There are those occasions that the only enemy is our own human nature, our own flesh, but we will leave that for another day.

There have been times that we have been hurt, or worse, had to watch a loved one be crushed under abusive behavior. We have all been affected by or witness to bullying, unfair treatment, discrimination and all of those other ugly behaviors, all products of the fallen world we live in. They stem from anger, bitterness, pride, selfishness and straight from the pit of hell. So how do we keep things in perspective? How do we not lash out in anger and revenge at those who have hurt, or continue to hurt us? How do we look past the flesh and blood person and see the evil lurking behind? First, we have to accept God’s love in our lives, His love for us and His love for others, including that person who has you wanting to behave in an ungodly way. We need to renew our minds, wash it out, with God’s word (Romans 12:2). When we love God’s law we aren’t easily offended (Psalm 119:165). When we stand on God’s word, write it on the tablets of our hearts and we allow God to fill us with His love we are slow to judge and quick to forgive. Love covers a multitude of sins, so it allows us to overlook some of the behavior (Proverbs 6:12). Another way that we can overlook the flesh is to remember at one time we were just like they were. There is a reason they are called “the lost”. We were unloving, backbiting, selfish children of our father, the devil.

Quite often the ones that hurt us the most are our own loved ones, family members, spouses, our Church family. Some are even professing Christians (I would say they may still have a lot of their carnal nature there, living by their senses). How do we handle that? First off remember that they are not the enemy! If someone has offended you, we are supposed to go to them. That can be harder than asking someone to forgive you, I know. Occasionally, you will find that they never intended to hurt and didn’t realize they even did. Sometimes they know they did, but refuse to admit fault or ask for forgiveness. If it’s a big deal, ask for leaders to help with the situation, if it is not a major thing, just shake the dust off of your feet and move on. Forgiveness isn’t an emotion, it’s a choice. You choose to forgive, whether they ever admit fault or not, and let your emotions catch up. When the behavior is continued, and the relationship is toxic, forgive, but don’t stay in relationship with that person. God never intended for abusive behavior to be part of a family. Sometimes we have to distance ourselves from people and their sin. Don’t be a part of sinful behavior. Forgiving isn’t saying what they did was acceptable or that you will allow the behavior to continue in your life. You are just letting the junk go out of your own heart and refusing to hold it against them. Forgive, but move on! Let go of the anger, hurt and pain and allow God to heal. Satan hates that. He loses the battle when you forgive.

I am not saying this is all easy! From time to time, we will all face the enemy with the face of a friend, or at least a human face. But look past that face of flesh and see the evil lurking behind. Rebuke the devil; arrest his plans in your life and the life of the person he is using. Our enemy is not a person with a different opinion, skin color, doctrine, faith or beliefs. Our enemy isn’t the rapist, murderer, adulterer or even that grouchy neighbor next door. Pray for those who seem to be your enemy, the person who is being used by Satan. Pray for those who despitefully use you. Be kind to those who have the enemy working in them. This heaps coals on the head of our true enemy. Love the un-loveable. Forgive those who have hurt you. Our enemy is spirit and must be fought with spiritual weapons. We use God’s word. How does he feel about that person, the situation, your reaction? Use the blood of Jesus. Plead the blood over your life and the life of that person who has hurt you. Testify of God’s goodness. What He is doing, has done, how He feels about you, and how much He loves you. Praise God, it stills the enemy and the avenger (makes him shut up and stop his attack.) Be slow to judge and quick to forgive. Satan hates that as well.

You’ll see it all gets easier. You’ll find yourself hurt and offended less. Your patience with people will be greater and your love stronger. Relationships will be restored. Families and Churches will have less division. We will be more careful of how we treat others. Life’s too short to hold grudges and allow bitterness to take over our lives. When we do that, Satan wins the battle and gains ground. None of us want that. The person you once saw as your worst enemy might just end up being a brother or sister in Christ. God want that. He doesn’t like their behavior any more than you do…but He LOVES them. He wants them found and accepted into the beloved.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that your may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. There for take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with the truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. And having shod you feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:10-18

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Yes, No, Wait

God answers prayer. Always. But not always the way we want or in the time we want. When we ask God and He gives a “YES” we get real excited! When we get a “NO” it is a little harder to hear, but we know we can change our plans and count on His Faithfulness to carry us through. (As long as we trust His answer and don’t run to ten people to get their advice, really looking for a pretend “yes” from our fellow human beings). Now on the other hand, none of us like hearing “WAIT” or in my case, silence, no “yes”, no “no”, just silence. After several mistakes I have learned that silence in these situations for me, usually means “wait”. I have lost patience, jumped the gun, and even gave up on getting an answer. I have begged for the yes, then even begged for a no, only to seemingly, not get an answer, or to be told to “wait.” Waiting wasn’t easy for me most of the time, and I still struggle now and again. But God gave us free will, and he allowed me to go my own way. It doesn’t take long to figure out when you are not in his perfect will! That is called the school of hard knocks, or a “wandering in the desert experience”. Ever had one of those? Sometimes God says “yes” but we never totally trust Him. Like those other ones who wandered for forty years in their desert experience. Sometimes we ask God the wrong questions, we ask for the plan of our whole lives, and He just wants to give us our next step. Ask Him a question that can be answered by a “yes”, “no”, or “wait”. Now, due to the fact that I have been told to “wait” several times, I do it much better. I am more confident in God. He knows what’s best for me. I’ve screwed it up enough on my own to know that His way is always better, no matter how hard it may seem, or how long it takes to see the fruit.