Waiting Sucks!

When this entire thing started with me, the Lord started showing me a verse. The verse is one that I never saw before, but it would become MY verse. My verse in knowing when the Lord was with me and speaking to me. Isaiah 40:31 tell us, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” I can’t begin to tell you the number of times this verse would show up out of nowhere to me. One time, I borrowed a book from the library in jail and a piece of paper fell out. It contained this verse. I know that this entire experience made me stronger and more insightful to so many different things. I look at life in general differently than I did before. I look at people differently than I did before. Being in prison, you can see the amount of hurt and dispare that others have gone through in their lives. You realize that people act and react the way that they do because over time it’s become a defense mechanism. It’s easier to act like you don’t care, bucause caring is feeling. If you don’t care, you don’t feel. It’s all just a facade. Deep down inside they care and want to feel. It just hurts too much to feel and care. Some have gone to other ways to numb that pain. Addiction doesn’t have to be drugs or alcohol. It can be anything done excessively more than the normal person might do. This entire thing has brought a lot of hurt, pain a trauma to many. Everyone has developed their own way of dealing and moving on. I hate that phrase “moving on”. Do we ever really “move on”? People often say, “I want things to get back to normal”. Maybe the normal we knew before wasn’t as great as we thought that it was? What if the new normal is or could be better than anything we could possibly imagine? So, what normal was might not be the plans the Lord has for us. If we go back to what “was”, did we ever really learn anything? The Lord has us wait sometimes so that we can grow and learn. When we rush that process and try to do things in our own timing, that is not the Lord’s plans but ours. Think of when you plan a tree. You’re not going to plant a tree that’s going to grow into a tall oak tree on the side of a sandy hill? The soil over time, probably is NOT going to support the root system. The Lord wants us to be planted on a solid foundation. One that we can learn and grow and be strong. Waiting isn’t the Lord telling us no. It might just mean, not right now. Be patient and lean not on your own understanding. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the amazing plans he has for your life. Thank him every day for not only the blessings he’s given us, but the blessings that are yet to come.