Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A Promising Future - and what to do until then...

Last post on waiting, I promise.  :)

PS - I have memory loss issues both short term and long term and cannot really promise this will be the last post on waiting as I might forget that I wrote about it already.

Tired of sitting around like a bump on a log?  Is there action to take while you're waiting on God to fulfill His promises or answer your prayers?

You bet!!  Here are some of the verses that really helped me as I climbed out of the pit.

Where is your focus?  Where is Jeremiah’s focus here…

Lamentations 3:19-23 

 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
   the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.

Then Jeremiah changed his focus…

21 Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:
 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
   for the salvation of the LORD. 

Know where to find your strength...  

Isaiah 40:27-31 

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
   Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
   my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint. 
  
God's grace will come.  His promise will be kept.  You will be blessed...

Isaiah 30:18

 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
   therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
   Blessed are all who wait for him!

Where is your hope?

Psalm 130:5

 5 I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
   and in his word I put my hope.

How can you know that God will keep His word?

Isaiah 55:10-11

10 As the rain and the snow
   come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
   without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
   It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

How do the two verses prior reassure us when the delay is long or the process is confusing?

Isaiah 55:8-9

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

What are the benefits of believing God while we wait?

Romans 15:13

 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


So what will you do between now and the big day?

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