I have been absent from the blog for awhile. It's so easy for months to go by without taking the time invest in something. When Isaac is napping, or he is asleep for the night, my body slumps onto the couch or bed & I just don't have much brain power left for thinking. I can easily lose my motivation for many things: from growing in my relationship with God to even writing a blog. How quickly we forget the simple things that please God: be joyful, be patient, & be faithful.
"Be joyful in hope..." Be at peace, be calm, be thankful, & be content when you're waiting for the good you do not yet have. When we are hoping for something in our lives (a home, a baby, a spouse, a new job, etc.), the waiting time is always the hardest. But that is the time to practice being joyful. That is when the Lord is pleased with you that you wait for Him, you trust Him, & you give your plans into His hands. I suck at waiting. Whether it was for a house, or a baby, or new friends, or 5:00pm for Daddy to come home, I suck at waiting. I whine, I complain, I dwell on all that is horrible & unfair in my life. Joyful? Not exactly. My heart needs a dose of joy in the waiting.
"Be patient in affliction..." Is this world full of affliction or what? Not even talking about world poverty, wars, or human trafficking, the things that don't affect most of us (but Lord, is that true affliction!). I know people afflicted with messy custody battles, a "strong-willed" child, infertility, a bad job, money troubles, debt, cancer. What are we to do? Be patient. Let God work things out instead of rushing to take complete control of the situation. ME? No... I've never done that. But I suggest you stop trying to single-handedly change your situation, forging ahead while you pray desperately for God to come along with you. Ok, maybe that's me. A little. I need to learn to be patient. To breathe, accept the situation as is for a period of time, find the good in it, & wait for God to show me what to do next. Now that pleases God!
"Be faithful in prayer..." Whatever your hope or affliction is, we should be praying about that daily. Can I stop here & confess something? I am really, really, ok really bad at praying consistently. I tense up & get all weird talking to God, especially out loud. What should be an intimate, powerful experience is stumped by my awkward "I don't know how to do this" attitude. So guess what? Most of the time, I just don't. This should most surely not be! We should be faithful in prayer. Keep going, don't stop! We should pray until we receive an answer. 5 years is not too long to pray for someone or something. In our culture, it is so hard to stop, quiet our lives, and speak and listen to an invisible God. Let's not follow in our culture's footsteps, let's learn to be faithful in prayer!
When I look at this verse, I see three simple ways that we can please God. For a change, let us seek to please Him instead of expecting Him to serve us all the time. Can you commit to memorizing this verse this week along with me while becoming more joyful, patient & faithful?
