Purpose In The Waiting by Kimberly Burnette

Did you know that the author of “One More Step," Rachel Wojo, also writes Bible Reading plans? I find these very helpful because each one month plan has a theme and all passages correlate to the theme. Rachel’s theme for August 2018 is Purposeful Pause. My devotion is based on two passages from that reading plan and the reflections I had on these passages:

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning ~ Psalm 130:15

Pausing and waiting— two of the hardest words in the English language for me.

I’ve had conversations with friends and mentors about what we call “being on hold.” When we sit on hold on a telephone ten seconds can feel like a minute, and one minute feels like five. It is very uncomfortable. We anticipate what we’re going to say and how things will go. We are eagerly waiting for answers, for a solution. Sometimes we wait for something good to finally come through.

For through the spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ~ Galatians 5:5

It is so hard to wait on God. How many times have you been waiting with plans in tow, and mind made up about how and when things should happen?

I’ve done this so many times:
    For my loved one with mental illness to get stable
    For my alcoholic husband to get well
    For my mind to heal from PTSD
    For my mental health ministry to get off the ground
    For my chronic illnesses to stabilize or heal

Sometimes what we wait for doesn’t look like what we thought it would. People don’t always have physical healing this side of heaven. And the best laid plans can fall apart. But then, sometimes, I have been absolutely amazed at what God has done!

While we may not get everything we are waiting on, we get ultimately get God’s best. When I was young, I was shy and timid. I would freeze up around more than one or two people. I had trouble even with phone calls. God freed me from that. I didn’t ask for what I didn’t think was possible. But today, I am assertive. I have taught classes, talked in front of groups, and stood up, by God’s grace.  I have also been released from all symptoms of PTSD. It took a long time, but it happened.

My loved one with mental illness is living far beyond his initial prognosis. It looked bad for a very long time, but with God's timing it eventually turned around. My mental health ministry has been going strong for nearly seven years, but it took ten years to get it off the ground.

In the case of my alcoholic husband, he never saw healing on this side of heaven. He passed away eleven years ago, but I know he knew Christ.

God always keeps His promises. And while we wait, it make me think of a tree in winter. Stripped bare of it’s fruit and foliage, waiting for the promise of spring. Winter is when it’s roots strengthen, so it can stand against the forces of nature. Much in the same way, when we wait on God, I believe He is strengthening our roots so we too can stand strong. What do you think?

Watch Find Me In The River

Trust Through Sustaining Grace

Repost from 2016

Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved. ~Psalm 55:22

Trust has always been a hard concept for me, namely because I have had trust betrayed many times, from the time I was a little girl. I learned while growing up that you can't trust people and yet I kept trying and I kept getting hurt. So I believed that no one was truly worthy of trust. 

Then how could I trust God? We all grow up seeing things happen that we will never understand. I never asked why because I was taught that you don't do that, but I wondered. Then came a time that I was on my knees desperate and knew that I had to trust him. He of course came through. And so my journey bega

I may have come through the back door in my Christian walk, and although I grew up in church, I knew about Jesus but I didn't know Him. It wasn't until I had to call on Him that I learned He was there waiting for me. That was when my true journey started.

Many people do not know what sustaining grace is. Saving grace has certainly saved my life and I am so relieved and happy that I know I will be with Jesus when this life is over despite being a sinner. Sustaining grace saves me time after time during my life here on earth.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you ~1 Peter 5:7

He has sustained me in more ways than I can name. He has provided provision in ways that don't even make sense. When I was a single mother with no child support coming in and no way to make ends meet, somehow they always did, but the numbers didn't add up. I always physically had what I needed when I needed it. So many times it seemed to come from left field. When I have been emotionally weak, He has lifted me up; He has carried me. He invites me, and all of us, to give Him our burdens, to lay them at His feet, and lighten our load. 

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Phillipians 4:19

It is so amazing to me, that when I am not strong enough to do what He wants me to do, I can go to Him and ask Him to help me do it and He will. He sustains each of us by supporting us, holding us up, working in and through us when we are weak. 

All we have to do is ask. I live in His sustaining grace every day because I ask Him to work in and through me; I ask Him for His strength and His help. If I ever miss a day I suffer. 

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ~Psalm 56:3

What about you? Are you trying to do everything in your own strength, striving to achieve, looking to the world to fill your gaping holes? There is only one without flaws, who is absolute, unchanging, faithful and loves you in a perfect, incomprehensible way. I am trusting Him in a way that I never thought I could trust anyone, but He is not anyone. He knew each of us before we were ever born.

Give Him your life and your will. Make Him your foundation and like a tree, while the winds may blow your branches, limbs and sometimes your trunk, your roots, which are deeply rooted in our magnificent creator will hold you up and keep you from breaking. In other words, you will still have the tests and trials, but He will bring you through and you will be better and stronger than before. Watch as He keeps His promises, every one!

The Road Not Taken

One of my favorite poems is “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. It is basically a metaphor for our journey through life and the paths we choose. In the poem, the walker comes upon a fork in the road, and must decide which way he will go. He chooses the road less traveled, which to me is the more individual and unusual, but better!

I have often thought about my own journey, and the paths I have been on. Did I choose wisely? What if I had gone the other direction? It is easy to get caught up in what ifs- what if I had done things differently? What if I had not taken the road I did? What if I had made different decisions? 

The LORD guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him. ~Psalm 37:23 Good News Translation

God does not want us to feel regretful, He wants us to repent and learn from our experiences. Just like when I get lost on a walk, and then find my way back. I remember which way to go after that! When we learn, and apply what we learn, we don't keep making the same mistakes. We know the way better.

I have learned that the walk of a Christian is a difficult one, and is most definitely the less traveled. But oh, what I would miss if I went the other, seemingly easier way!

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This path is long and winding, sometimes it’s hard to see. Some parts of it haven't been navigated before. But I am never alone. It may be unmapped, but God knows exactly where He’s taking me. When I have gotten off course, nothing works out! But then when I am back on the path, everything aligns once more. Isn't it amazing that we can know which way God wants us to go so easily? All we have to do is open our eyes and see the signs.

So what about the times when it is dark ahead and the road seems to end? The most obvious and easiest answer would be to go back and get on a different road wouldn't it? Do you think that is what God would want us to do? I have done that before because I got scared. Now, I try to stop and pray. I reach for Him and look for His light. I take a step at a time, and feel my way when I have to. What about you?

This is what the LORD says--your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. ~Isaiah 48:17 NLT

Do you trust God to pave a path before you? Do you trust Him to make a way where there is none? Has He ever done this for you before? Do you believe He will do it again?

Remember God is a God of the impossible. He is a God of so much more than what we can imagine and what we can see. Let Him set your path and make the way and He will lead and guide you to the places He wants you to go. Ultimately He will lead you all the way home to where you belong.

With this message: People of Israel, I am the holy LORD God, the one who rescues you. For your own good, I teach you, and I lead you along the right path. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Make The Most Of Your Time

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12

                                                                                

Me and my youngest grandson as a baby

It just amazes me when I think about how my children are all in their thirties now. It seems like just yesterday that they were young children running around my house. Now I have grandchildren that do the same thing. Time marches on and the older we get, the more quickly it marches. 

I now have more friends and family who have passed away. I now have multiple chronic diseases. But the realization has come upon me that there are people I have known that seem to have nine lives. And there are others who were doing very great and hit suddenly with fatal injury or illness. 

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ~ Ephesians 5:15-16

None of us know how much time we have or what tomorrow will bring. The truth is only God knows. There is much that is beyond our control, but our God loves us so much that He has the perfect plan for each of us. So, we can stress about what we have no control over, and grieve over what we no longer have or we can make the most of each day.
                                                                                                                          Only God knows so just let go, relax and don't miss the special moments... they only come to you once. 

Each day is a gift, and there are many blessings that we take for granted. The truth is each day we make our memories for tomorrow. What kind of memories do you want to have? I think back to the times I wasted worrying and fretting about the future and the past as the time just went by, time I can’t get back. 

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalm 118:24

So what I try to do now is make the best of each day and savor the special moments. Living with chronic disease is hard, but God is good. One of the most humbling but rewarding things I’ve been learning is instead of being independent, to be dependent on God. He is teaching me to let go of my past regrets and losses, and my future worries and anxieties. When I focus on Him and stay in the moment life just looks so much better, and that’s how I want to experience it and remember it! 

Just One Thing I Want You To Know

I am always with you- even to the very end of the age.
~Matthew 28:20

When the rains come             
When the storms move in
When the winds blow
And your faith wears thin
There’s just one thing
 I want you to know
 I will shelter you

When it’s so dark
When it’s hard to move
When you can’t see
Feeling your way through
There’s just one thing                                     

There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day and
protection from the storm and the rain. ~ Isaiah 4:6

I want you to know
I will be with you

When you’re scared you feel so alone
But I am always here
Though you can’t always see me
I’ll be the comfort in your fear

When it’s so hard
When no way seems right
When you don’t know
And no answer’s in sight
There’s just one thing
I’ll always come back

And I will answer you     
                                                       
The son will shine                                         
No matter what you do
Trust me and wait
I’ll help you breakthrough
There’s just one thing
I want you to do
Believe in me, I will

©Kimberly Burnette