” He is in the delays”…

I posted this two years ago.. on this date.. I hope it brings you peace as we leave 2017 and enter a new year. I am also leaving behind a decade of my life and entering the 7th decade.. may the Lord keep us and protect us as we trust HIm!

Here we are again.. can you believe it? Just two more days before 2015 is over. This is a time for looking back and for looking ahead. God gives us this window of time to reflect after the busyness of Christmas and before the beginning of 2016.. For me it is a little more intense than I would like since my birthday is New Years Eve. I literally start a new year of my life when January 1st rolls around. I am reminded of how fast time passes and how long I have lived. When you are young it is easy to look ahead with some excitement.. as you age it is a little scary. My body is wearing out and I am fighting to stay healthy and strong. My grandchildren are growing up and I want to be here as long as I can to see them as adults and hopefully to see their children.

As I look back on 2015 I see moments of great faith and moments of failure. I remember the days when I felt like He was so close I could touch him and I remember the days when I wondered if He even knew I existed. Yet I know that God made me the way I am.. He knows my pain and He appears in the middle of my brokenness to remind me of His sovereignty over my life. I imagine that you can relate to my struggles and I want to encourage you..to remind you that God knows our hearts.. He knows what makes us dance for joy and what breaks our hearts into a million pieces.

Looking back I see things that I am grateful for.. ways that God has moved to change me  and to guide me into a deeper place with Him. I see healing in my life and in the lives of those around me. Some of us received gifts that we were waiting for and some of us are still waiting. This morning as I visited with a friend and saw how God was giving her a wonderful blessing that she had been longing for I was struck with a thought that I knew was from Him. He said ” I am in the delays”.. when we wait and pray and hope.. He is in that season with us. We are not forgotten or set aside. He keeps our desires close to His heart and at the right time He delights in surprising us with the very thing we hoped for.

So.. let us enter this new year with confidence in the Living God…our Creator and our Provider. Our hearts can rest in His presence trusting that He will come for us.. He will rescue us.. He will heal us and He will shower us with blessings in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

” He is in the delays”…

Here we are again.. can you believe it? Just two more days before 2015 is over. This is a time for looking back and for looking ahead. God gives us this window of time to reflect after the busyness of Christmas and before the beginning of 2016.. For me it is a little more intense than I would like since my birthday is New Years Eve. I literally start a new year of my life when January 1st rolls around. I am reminded of how fast time passes and how long I have lived. When you are young it is easy to look ahead with some excitement.. as you age it is a little scary. My body is wearing out and I am fighting to stay healthy and strong. My grandchildren are growing up and I want to be here as long as I can to see them as adults and hopefully to see their children.

As I look back on 2015 I see moments of great faith and moments of failure. I remember the days when I felt like He was so close I could touch him and I remember the days when I wondered if He even knew I existed. Yet I know that God made me the way I am.. He knows my pain and He appears in the middle of my brokenness to remind me of His sovereignty over my life. I imagine that you can relate to my struggles and I want to encourage you..to remind you that God knows our hearts.. He knows what makes us dance for joy and what breaks our hearts into a million pieces.

Looking back I see things that I am grateful for.. ways that God has moved to change me  and to guide me into a deeper place with Him. I see healing in my life and in the lives of those around me. Some of us received gifts that we were waiting for and some of us are still waiting. This morning as I visited with a friend and saw how God was giving her a wonderful blessing that she had been longing for I was struck with a thought that I knew was from Him. He said ” I am in the delays”.. when we wait and pray and hope.. He is in that season with us. We are not forgotten or set aside. He keeps our desires close to His heart and at the right time He delights in surprising us with the very thing we hoped for.

So.. let us enter this new year with confidence in the Living God…our Creator and our Provider. Our hearts can rest in His presence trusting that He will come for us.. He will rescue us.. He will heal us and He will shower us with blessings in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aging.. part two

I am following up on my last post. This is a season of growth for me.. particularly since I wrote my last post.. God is revealing things that I really need to see. I am reading things geared to people in my age range.. written by believers who are struggling with the same issues I am facing. After lots of prayer and confession, God is helping me realize the beauty of this season. Instead of being negative about my age, I am feeling thankful that He has allowed me to stay on the earth.. in this life for 66 years.

My life over the last 15 years has been richer and more challenging than anything that I could have imagined. I am grateful for this season.. so many of my dreams have come true.. there have been surprises that I never expected. As I battled with the temptation to judge myself and my accomplishments.. the voice of God spoke  to me ” Be grateful and remember how I have protected you and provided for you for all these years. Expect more. Look ahead prayerfully and with anticipation.”  He is also cautioning me to drop my disappointments and embrace my failures. He warns me to stop cynicism, anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness at the door of my heart and turn to Him for cleansing and renewal.

I am so excited about this next year and I hope you are too. God is good.. trustworthy and faithful. If we remember that.. we have all that we need in every situation and at any age. He will not abandon us!

Happy New Year and God’s blessings on you!!!

“Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” ( from psalm 27)

The last week..

We are in the last week of the year.. that very interesting week between Christmas and New Years. 2013 is ending next Tuesday..which just happens to be my birthday. Growing up I really disliked being born on New Years Eve. Because people were busy celebrating.. I felt like it was a strange time to have a birthday..especially since everyone was already tried out from the holidays.

As an adult I totally enjoy having been born on this date. Each new year of my life starts on January 1st.. how convenient and New Years Day has real significance for me..it is truly the beginning of a new year. I can look back and reflect on 2013 and realize that next week there will be a new beginning. You can do the same thing even if you are not having a birthday.

God wants us to look ahead and expect great things from Him. He also reminds us to look back and thank Him for all that He has done for us. As the year ends and the new one begins we are can say without a doubt that He was with us. When everything seemed to be falling apart..He was there. When we were celebrating..He was there. When we were feeling hopeless.. He gave us hope. When we were filled with joy..He was the reason.

As we cross over the bridge between the already and the not yet..we can be reminded of the promises we have in Him. He has already come into the world and His kingdom is unfolding and yet we wait in anticipation for the things that are not yet completed. He is the Redeemer and we can rest in the knowledge that this new year will provide more opportunities for His redemptive work to bring healing and restoration in our lives and in the lives of those around us!

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
    our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we are filled with joy.     (psalm 126:1-3)

Entering a new season..

January 1, 2013..a brand new year and a new beginning for each of us. I know that God is not in time..but He uses time to do some amazing things.  I believe that He is always reaching for our hands to tell us that we have a fresh start..not just once a year.. but every single day. At the same time.. this particular day brings with it an opportunity.

2012 was a very challenging year for me. I felt relief as I took down my calendar and put a brand new one in its place. It was very difficult.. but I am beginning to see fruit from the suffering in my life and in the lives of those around me. Nothing is wasted with the Lord.  I feel a sense of excitement this morning. What does God have in store? How will He show His sovereignty and His goodness to His people? What new things will He bring into our lives to remind us that we are His. The slate is clean..it is a fresh start..we can use this day to prepare..to anticipate..to dream of possibilities.

Let’s trust Him more fully in 2013 because of the way He took us through 2012. He will be with us in every new adventure..His hand of protection is over us..He will rescue us before we fall off the edge. He will provide for all our needs and bless us beyond our expectations. He will encourage, comfort, and strengthen us.. He will never fail us in this new season. Let’s begin this year with thanksgiving.. in faith that our God is with us!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”