Blessed Beyond Belief
Kelsey McCann
As young adults, we are constantly bombarded with questions about the future both within ourselves and from others: who will I marry? where will I work? Is this what I want to do with my life afterall?….etc. etc. etc. This internal struggle robs us of our joy and peace that God wants to give us if we just wait on and trust Him.
Easier said that done sometimes though….right? These mini trials we go through may seem like the prolonged 40 years in the desert or the 100 years Sarah waited to have a baby. 2 months may seem like an eternity but in the eyes of God, it’s but a moment in time.
This time of life for myself and for many others I’m sure is a time of waiting. However, in this time of waiting, I learn more and more that He is desiring to teach me something and use me for his purposes every single day I wake up. Each and every day is an absolute gift from Him, and as my pastor here at the Crossing said last weekend “get over yourself”…It is not about me, I am not here for my own selfish desires but to glorify my Maker and do His will :).
Whenever we take matters into our own hands and do what we want when we want, it will never turn out the way we want it because it is done on our time and in our way not His time and in His way. My thoughts are so consumed on things of this world so often that I idolize certain things here in the world. I want Philippians 3:8-10 to be true of me: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
I want to know God greater than anything else. He fully satisfys us in the ways we long to be satisfied in the depths of our hearts. He wants the best for us and wants to make us happy, bring us joy, bring us peace. We are not promised a spouse or that dream job, etc., but we are promised that He will be with us to the end of time and then He is coming back to make us whole in Him. Whenever we lose heart and become discouraged in this world, we can find hope and joy again in remembering that these things will quickly pass away, but He never will.
If we are waiting for something (which that probably is all of us), we must learn to wait patiently. “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25. The Lord knows the desires of our hearts, we have to trust trust trust and know that He is faithful and will provide all that we need for life in godliness. ”…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. His timing is perfect, and until He says “it is time”, let us give it up to Him and let go of our anxiety and live in the joy and peace of the current day. As my parents always say :), “Be here now.” I want to include my devotional from this morning in this post:
From Michelle Mckinney Hammond’s Single-Minded Devotion (pg. 21 entitled God’s Perfect Timing):
“Have you pondered the idea that God seems liberated by time while we are bound by it? We spend most of our lives anticipating when something is going to happen. If too much times passes, we grow weary and disappointed and question God. Anxiety and mistrust toward Him alters our conversations and changes our dispositions.
None of this distracts God or makes Him move any faster to fulfill our requests and desires. He knows the plans He has for us. He already knows His completed work will be worth the wait. Ah, yes indeed, it will be a beautiful thing. A ‘good and perfect’ thing. We will hang our heads when we see what He purposed all along and berate ourselves for not trusting Him.
How conflicted we are. The Holy Spirit within us rests in God’s perfect timing and feels no urgency because of His awareness of eternity. But our earthbound hearts fear running out of time. We wonder what God is up to and why He is taking so long. We can’t fathom that God, in anticipation of our joy, will not settle for presenting us with less than a perfect gift. Perhaps that is why we need faith.
What desire do you think God has ‘taken too long’ to answer? Are you truly ready to receive what you asked for?
Dear heavenly Father, forgive my impatience. Help me trust Your perfect timing as well as Your heart toward me. Today I choose to wait on You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’ Ecclesiastes 3:11”
You know those moments where you just have to sit in a quiet place and process? The Lord is so good and I am floored by the blessings He has placed in my life. I don’t deserve any of the blessings He has bestowed on me. It is very humbling to think about all He has done for me and blessed me with when I continue and continue and continue to sin and don’t spend the time with Him that He deserves or that I need to grow. Why would He do the things He graciously does for me? and then I wonder, why aren’t I stewarding these gifts right and honoring Him at all times? Well, I would like to say that I do, but unfortunatly my flesh doesn’t allow that. But God is soooo good :), I can’t imagine the patience it takes to deal with and wait on me. But He is faithful, just and loving and for that I say THANK YOU LORD, thank you! Thank you for the sweet people in my life Lord, I am so thankful for every one of them and want to love and serve them like YOU intended, but still love and serve you FIRST and MOST :)
Learning to wholeheartdly trust, learning to have the want to to grow, learning to not only desire but to have an intimate relationship with God is a process, BUT it’s a process I want to be involved in. What keeps me from these things? Pride? there’s a good chance of that. Laziness? That’s also true. Satisfaction in other things that are a true blessing, but shouldn’t be what I count on to ”fill” me? yes, that too. Lord, help me to be joyful/excited/and thankful for the sweet blessings in my life while still putting YOU at the forefront. You are the reason for all that is good in my life in the first place and YOU can teach me how to love the people I love better than anyone.
I love these lyrics and for some reason, have had them running through my head for a bit today.
“To my audience of one
You are Father, and you are Son
As your spirit flows free,
Let it find within me
A heart that beats to praise you.
And now just to know you more
Has become my great reward
To see your kingdom come
And your will be done
I only desire to be yours,
LordSo what could I bring
To honor your majesty
What song could I sing
That would move the heart of royalty
And all that I have
Is the life that you’ve given me
So Lord let me live for you
My song with humilityAnd Lord as the love song
Of my life is played
I have one desire
To bring glory to your name
Lord, as you know, I tend to drift at times, but You continue to run hard after my heart and for that I thank You! Thank you for the awesome accoutability you have placed in my life as well. They push me to pursue You more and more all the time and constantly remind me whose I am. I am not my own, I was bought with a price. I love you Lord God and I thank you for my sweet family, my sweet friends, for Ben, for health and safety, for a roof over our heads/food/water, etc. but most of all, thank you for Your Son and the sacrifice He made so that we wouldn’t have to live life without You, without hope, without a purpose. Your will be done, not my own. Help me to follow and pursue You wholeheartdly. :)
The JOY of the LORD is our strength :)
