Sometimes I look up or converse with God and find myself feeling jipped. In my mind, at my age and with my credentials and work history, I feel I should have more. This isn’t just a fleeting thought of entitlement, no; I become frustrated or disappointed; “vexed” as one of my friends would say. Then I begin to talk to my creator and say things like, “What am I missing?” “What am I doing wrong?” and “What is the hold up?”
He asks me—with no condemnation and with utter patience that only a parent can muster—“Who told you you were supposed to be doing anything other than what I have you doing? How can you get frustrated with what I have you doing or with the path I’ve chosen for your life when you’re MY creation? You’re here for my benefit and glory, so why are you so concerned with achieving your own [glory]?”
And while it doesn’t feel great to be corrected, I know that His words are both true and won’t return void. For many believers, this isn’t an issue; not because I’m doing anything wrong or because their walk has lasted longer than mine, but because for a lot of believers, being a Christian is one of those things you use to describe yourself, the equivalent of “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or “Sir.” Whereas for me, it IS my self. Many people don’t/won’t understand my plight, not because they don’t love Jesus, but because they’ve never respected him ENOUGH to acknowledge that He has a plan for their lives, that He’s speaking to them or that His will may not coincide with their plans.
However, for me, I reverence God (not bragging and through no greatness of my own). I no longer see my life as my own personal playground, unsupervised and free for me to do as I please, but as God’s blueprint that He’s courteous enough to allow me to develop to fruition alongside Him. That means when He says today I need you to be a foreman or a painter or a construction worker, I simply (must) accept the task. I can’t argue and complain that yesterday I was in charge or that after X amount of time on the job—working for Him—I expected to be somewhere else or promoted. If I want to be employed by Him I must simply accept the roles he gives me.
It’s not easy, nor is it pretty to set aside my own desires for my life and society’s expectations that say I should have more, do more and be more, but it’s what has to be done as a believer committing one’s LIFE to God’s will. So stay strong fellow lifers. Accept the tasks and put away the things that distract, confuse and deter you from following God’s rules (and path). The things of this world are only temporary and shall pass away, but greater works shall we do (if we’ll just accept our assignments).
Sometimes we find ourselves waiting on people—men, women, friends, family—thinking that when they come around, whether mentally or physically, everything is going to be better. Other times, we find ourselves waiting on a job: a callback from an interview, a call FOR an interview or a call to come into work. Again, we think, THIS call is going to change our lives. I’m reminded of a scripture, Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord” I could stop quoting here. There’s a message there, but we’ll get back to it. “Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
We take these (and other) scriptures for granted. We cease to take them literally. There’s a blatant message here. First, we should be waiting on the Lord; not on money to come through, employers to call, men or women to come to a joint understanding with us, family and friends to come into our physical presence; we should be waiting on the Lord. Like I said, there’s depth here. For someone, that’s all the message they need. But this particular scripture gets deeper. It lets us know that WHEN we wait upon the Lord, THEN shall we renew our strength, mount up with wings as eagles (soar), run without weariness and walk without fainting.
If life has become tiresome and relationships have just not been what that “is” for you, think about what you’re waiting on and putting your hope in. Is it the Lord? If you’re tired, weary and on the brink of fainting, it’s probably not. The difference between waiting on God and waiting on man is that with the latter, they may never come. A parent may never stop abusing drugs or alcohol, someone you’re interested in may never reciprocate those feelings, children may never become all-star students, and some people will simply never show up, but God—we could take a praise break right here!—will show up. He won’t leave you waiting like a child in the rain whose father has forgotten to pick him up from soccer practice. God will show up, show out and show you. Refocus your attention. Make a conscious decision to pay attention to what God is doing and how he is moving; for all you know, He could already be there but you’ve been so busy waiting on other things you thought would make your life better that you’ve completely missed out on Him.
As a pastor of mine, Keith Somerville, recently said, “Quit giving your power to people who are powerless.” Wait on the LORD, He is the only one worthy of your time and the only one guaranteed to show up. After all, He will never leave you, nor forsake you. Be encouraged!
This was so profound to me that I don't feel the need to add anything to it.
♥♥♥ Enjoy! ♥♥♥
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
(1 Corinthians 13, The Message Version)
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]
Nothing about love is “commercial.” Instead of worrying about what gifts you will get or about not having a “Valentine,” focus on the command from the Lord [Love God, love yourself, love your neighbor]. If you need assistance with understanding what “love” means, take a look at the coordinating blog, Love, As Real as it Gets. Also, food for thought, instead of worrying about who isn’t around and who doesn’t love you, take a little time to appreciate those people who have been in your life and who have loved you for who you are. See the bigger picture. I also admonish those of you who are parents to show your kids what love is all about.
Remember, it’s always a good time to love.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
I’m not good at talking about myself. In fact, I wrote 338 pages of my second book with no problem, but I get stuck every time I have to write a bio or an “About Me.” Nonetheless, I feel the need to step out of my comfort zone for just a moment to give my testimony.
This is for the common person; the average “Joe.” I don’t have the tales of drug addiction, the woes of single parenting, homelessness, AIDS—any of the things we (myself included) generally deem newsworthy. What I have is my truth.
A year ago, I was working for my church. The first Wednesday of 2010 I was called into a meeting to be told that, due to budget cuts, I’d have to be let go. Now, they weren’t aware of the conversation I’d had with God just the day before. One in which I’d promised to “follow him, quit fighting, and let Him have His way.” So, upon hearing the news, I chuckled to myself. My thoughts: Really God? ...Okay…Upon hearing the news, I was stuck. I knew what I had promised the Lord, but I also knew what lay ahead of me: rent, car note, insurance, and bills, bills, bills.
It would be great to say I immediately jumped up, left that place and said, “That’s it! I’m going to be an authoress!” The reality is, I was confused and tickled at the same time. I was tickled because I felt that God had hit me with the “Okie Doke.” He’d put me in a situation where I had to either make good on what I’d told him—that I was ready to submit to Him and His ways—or retract my statement from the previous day and go back to doing my own thing. I was confused because I was still operating in “Me.” I was stuck thinking, Eh, there’s not really another job out there that I want. I’ve literally done everything I said I wanted to do: social work, teaching and office work.
Not only was I without a job, I was without a plan. Even then, I didn’t say, “Time to move onto this book.” I’d also be lying if I said I went straight home and started looking for a job. The reality is, the week after I was laid off I was in Augusta, GA chilling with my best friend. We went to a comedy show, shopping, had a great time. Yep, right after becoming unemployed.
Although I wasn’t putting together a plan, God was formulating things on my behalf. He led me into a situation that made me really consider publishing my book. After that plan fell through, He inspired me to put the book out myself. “Now, Tierra, how do you know it was God?” one might ask. Well, I’d just told a friend the month before that I wasn’t going to put out the book. It was something I wanted to complete, so I did. It wasn’t in my plans to be a published author. Truth be told, I could’ve cared less about anyone reading Safe in His Arms. I wrote it, I liked it, and that was enough for me.
After God gave me the gumption to put the book out myself, HE made everything fall into place. He had people around me every step of the way showing me how to get started, funding the book…let me repeat that—FUNDING the book. He also knows how he made me; when I decide to do something…it will happen. Period. So, He knew that by giving me that desire, giving me a little push, a little help along the way, tons of support from family, friends and strangers, that I would run full-speed ahead.
My testimony is that one year ago I was unemployed. 12 months later, I’m the author of 2 books! Simply by taking a chance; choosing to believe; committing to what I’d promised God and trusting Him to accomplish His work through me. I’m not the bragging type—especially when it’s about me—but when it comes to God…I’m His spokesperson, His cheerleader. So… “Go, go, g-o…Go Jesus Go!”
If God has been calling you to do something and you’ve been hesitant, don’t know how to start or where to go, He’s put me in your path for a reason. Contact me today so you can start walking in your purpose.
Tierra Allen
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