A season of waiting...

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is "Oh the Places You'll Go" and there is a part in there that seems to resonate with me in different seasons. It's the part that talks about the waiting place. I think we all find ourselves in that season at one time or another.

 

In case you haven't read the part of the book that I'm referring to here it is ;-)

I've had my time over this break, I've had time to reflect on this past year. First off wow, it went by way too fast. I've already beat myself up over the whole not feeling like I got a whole lot finished this year. When I look back over the year, my to-do list is still the same, my goals (well I think I'm bringing more weight into 2019 than I did in 2018), and my one word for 2018 well I did well on that for the first couple of months. I think we have all hit those places where we are like okay God what was the purpose etc. We ask so many questions sometimes instead of just simply trusting that He has a perfect plan and a purpose even when we can't see any of the details in the puzzle. It's like we are looking through the glass and the pieces seem to be coming together, but it's a fuzzy picture. As we age in the physical our vision changes, and I think it's that way in the spiritual as well. God's refining how we see things, it's our choice to put on the glasses. So in my God time last night I poured out my waiting place, season woes to a God that I'm sure knew they were coming.....how He answered was not what I had expected. You see what I had viewed as waiting, God had viewed as clearning. Stay with me for a few...This journey is a process, sometimes we can get from point A to point B in a short time, sometimes it takes longer. (at least the eleven-day journey wasn't 40 years). God has to have space (and time) to clear away some of the clutter to make room for what's coming. Pruning-Clearing-Growing.....ya'll when that picture began to become clear last night I had myself a crying shout. I have no idea what He has planned for 2019, but I'm ready to go after those dreams and visions that continue to be brought into view....and leaving in 2018 the old way of viewing those dreams. 

I don't know where you are, but God does..., maybe you have been in what you deemed as a waiting season for some time now. What sweet child of His is He trying to whisper to your soul? What word is wanting to drop in your Spirit that He needs you to put feet to? If God has shown it to you, it will come to pass in His time...just staying focused on moving towards "it" and trust Him to make the paths and steps clear. If God's been pulling back your layers and cleaning out some of your space...then He has a purpose for what He's making room for. The waiting season may very well be a clearing season for you, where God's making room.  He can't add to, if there is no space for Him to. 

2018 has been a quiet year as far as blogs go. I think I went through the season of no one is reading, so why am I writing, to the season of I don't know if I'm supposed to be doing this anymore etc. Hear my heart....when God has told you there is a word on the inside of you, He intends for you to share it even if it doesn't make sense to you. When you know it's a part of His plan....quit circling the mountain and just be obedient. So here's to staying focused more in 2019 on the blogging, to making regular posts each week (I'm thinking of bringing back Tuesday Truths and starting a Thursday Thoughts post)...and here's to getting back to looking into how to self publish that devotional book that God won't seem to leave me alone about. 

This season...

I'm not sure anyone reads these anymore when I post or if Facebook or Blogger has just done something weird with how things show up....but anyway I will keep writing as God lets me.

In the chaos and craziness of last week, God dropped a word so loud in my day that it stopped me in my tracks. It was one of those words that not only is needed in the moment, but it can shift your entire day. It was one of those moments that can shift things you can't see in this realm because God's doing something in the realm that only He can see. That's a blog to come.....but it was one of those moments I texted my spiritual covering crew and said wow.

I love this time of the year, God and I have been on a journey over the last year or so to redeem this time. That in itself is yet another blog or a chapter in the book I need to slow down and write some day. There are so many emotions and feelings that surround this time of the year that if we aren't careful we can get so caught up in them that we find ourselves going through the motions of the season. That was never God's plan...God never intended for us to get so caught up in the to-do list that we lost room for what is the heart of the season. Trying to do too much leads to exhaustion which leads to frustration when we can't do everything we wish we could accomplish.

This season let's not get so caught up that we forget to make room for the heart and the reason for the season. Mary and Joseph had to search for a place with room so very long ago.....let's not leave God searching for a place in our schedules this season. (and I'm not talking about the time we spend in a church building on Sunday, I'm talking about the time we spend with God just us and Him). The shepherds by trade were drawn as sheep to the true Shepherd that night. Let's not lose sight of what draws us to our Shepherd and show that same grace and love to others. The wise men came and brought gifts of themselves along with something tangible....let's not forget to give not only material things this season, but time to others as well. Sometimes the most precious gift can't be bought in a store or online...

Love came down at Christmas time so many years ago....and that is the love that flows through us today as Children of the Most High. It's a love that can redeem moments that are painful, memories that make our eyes leak and restore those things that the enemy tried to break. It's a love that can cover and fill those holes that seem to never be filled to a place of overflowing. This season and beyond may the gift that was given so very long ago, but what flows through us.