To Wait, Not Worry

 “If I’m not seeing action on His [God’s] part, it’s very likely my flesh will start striving and my spirit will become exhausted from the toiling.” 

– She Reads Truth devotion ‘Sparrows and Kings‘

 

And this is why Scripture tells me to “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and to “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), and asks me, “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27).

Worrying and striving does no good. It simply shows a lack of trust in the Sovereign Father. Yet I’m just as prone to it as anyone else.

Back in my single days, when God wasn’t bringing me a husband and I thought He should be, I resorted to scouring the online dating sites, and striking up conversations with any guy friend who “could be a potential”… only to have my heart hurt over and over.

When I was leaving my job at one ministry and looking for a new full-time ministry position, and God wasn’t providing clear direction, I spent hours in desperate searching, emailing, and filling out applications…. only to hit closed doors again and again.

And now, in this season, when I so want answers and the wait is long and frustrating, I still find myself searching and trying to figure it all out.

Worrying. Striving.

And the Lord asks me, “Is that doing you any good?” Forgive me, Lord.

Oh, for the grace to wait patiently for Him! To resist the urge to take life into my own hands! I have spent so much of my life striving, searching, and trying to take control, when I only needed to be trusting and following Jesus. All along while I was worrying, He knew the good plans He had for me (Jeremiah 29:11), and each time, He brought me to the answers in His time, in a way that could have only been Him.

And He will do it again.

Jesus, help me to be still and trust in Your beautiful plans… to wait, not worry.