I’m a planner.

I like to know that I have all my ducks in a row.  I like to know all the details about an assignment before I take it on.  I like to think of every possible angle, every possible thing that could go wrong, every possible roadblock that might trip me up.  I ask a lot of questions.

I want to know I’m doing the right thing before I do it.

But it seems like more often than not, God doesn’t give us all the details about our assignments up front.  Seems like He’s more interested in having us step out in faith without the guarantees of how things will turn out. 

He did it with Noah.  Told him to make build an ark.  No questions asked.  Noah did it. “So Noah did according to all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22).  He did it with Abraham.  Told him to get out of his country and go to a land He would show him.  No questions asked.  Abraham did it. “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him” (Genesis 12:4).

Sometimes, God calls us to do things without all the details up front.  Sometimes He wants us to take Hebrews 11:1 very literally. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Sometimes the confirmation that we have done the right thing comes after the obedience. 

Because, after all, THAT is what faith is all about.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.  Hebrews 11:7

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  Hebrews 11:8

That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 1:7

 

 

 

I don’t know if I had ever really watched “Gone With The Wind” in its entirety.  But last weekend  I did. 

All 238 minutes of it.

There were the famous often-quoted dialogues and memorable exchanges.  But there was one quick take that almost went by completely unnoticed, one that I have a feeling  formed the framework of the movie’s theme.  Before the lavish parties and barbeques and laughter were replaced by war and destruction,  the film cuts to a shot of a sign hanging outside of one of the plantation homes.

“Do not squander time – that is the stuff life is made of.”

What if I squandered today?  What if I let it go by without making the most of it, without intentionally looking to see what God wants me to do, or experience, or understand?  Will I miss out on something amazing God planned for me?  Will I wake up tomorrow morning with regrets, knowing today is gone?

It may be a Monday morning.  I may not feel so adventurous right now.  But in the end, this is the stuff life is made of.  This is the stuff the life God has given me is made of. 

And I don’t want to squander a minute of it.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time…Ephesians 5:15-16

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; Ecclesiastes 9:10

I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. John 9:4

Not sure why, but I’ve been seeing more than a few weird signs along my local roadways recently. 

There was the handwritten one being waved excitedly by a man on the corner that said, “Valtines baskets”.  I’m assuming from the odd collection of shrink-wrapped teddy bears on the ground next to him that it meant to say “Valentine’s”. 

And then there was the puzzling one outside of a restaurant that said “Wecater”.  Now I know I live in a culturally diverse area, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the word “wecater” meant.  Oh.  I get it.  “We  cater”.  Seems someone forgot the space.

But I saw one on the way to church on Sunday morning that really made me think.  Waiting at a red light, I looked over to the corner and saw a faded street sign that simply said, “BEGIN”.   From the looks of it, a sign underneath it was missing.  I assume that was the sign that explained what was supposed to “begin”.  It may have been a scenic route sign, or a maybe a school zone.  Without the context, I had to take it for what it said. 

Begin.

It made me wonder if there’s anything in my life I should begin.  It made me wonder if God is waiting for me to do something and I need the reminder to just do it. Maybe something I’ve been putting off.  Maybe something that just won’t get done if I don’t…begin. 

I’ve been asking God for a sign.  I just didn’t expect Him to take me literally!

Be strong and of good courage, and do it;  1 Chronicles 28:20

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. Genesis 6:22

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” John 15:14

Websters:  n.  the passing from one place, state, form, or phase to another:  such as a change of seasons; social change.

More often than not I’m lamenting about things that don’t change as quickly as I’d like them to.  But there are a few areas of my life that have either recently had more change than I’d like, or may be about to change.

Yesterday morning was dreary and rainy and cold and I found myself in a dreary state of mind to match.  And then, a unexpected song on a CD I was listening to gave me a much brighter perspective.

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

 Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

( from the hymn Be Still My Soul,  by Catharina von Schegel)

Yes, in every change, He faithful will remain!

For I am the LORD, I do not change.  Malachi 3:6

Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God.               Deuteronomy 7:9

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithuful.  Hebrews 10:23

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…  Matthew 6:34

The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.  Psalm 34:10

This is my 94^th blog post.   Ninety four “lessons learned in the waiting”.  And it’s also the one-year anniversary of the first one.

A year ago tonight I sat at my computer and hit the WordPress “publish” icon for the first time.  I knew God was pushing me to do something else to follow up on Anticipatience (the book), but I had been struggling with what that would look like.

I had fears.  Fears that it would look self-serving.  Fears that I after the first week, I’d run out of things to write about.  Fears that I’d write dumb things that would make people roll their eyes and never come back again.  Fears that it would fizzle out and I’d be left wondering why I believed God had wanted me to do it in the first place.

The fear of running out of things to write about was unfounded.  Seems like God has a never-ending supply of lessons to be learned “in the waiting”.  And sometimes, to be honest, I’d rather He didn’t!  Sometimes it seems like it would be more fun to write about “lessons learned in the answered prayers”, or “lessons learned through the stunning victories”.

But lessons learned in the waiting are much more precious, I think.  At least they are to me. 

Thanks for being part of this past year.  Thanks for your encouragement and for sharing what our amazing God is doing in your lives and in your waiting.  I know our “waits” all look different, but our God is – and will continue to be –  faithful in all of them. 

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him.  Lamentations 3:25

And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.  Psalm 39:7

Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”              Isaiah 25:9

 

Apparently, I’m imperfect.  I know.  It’s a shock.

It’s not really a shock, of course.  I happen to have first-hand knowledge of my imperfections.  But the reminder came when I saw that a bookseller’s website was offering a used copy of my book, “Anticipatience – A New Word of Hope for Single Women”.  There was a category link to click on that said:

 “hope-single-woman-slightly-imperfect-sharonvirkler”.

I sort of had to laugh at the reality of it.  It isn’t just a copy of my book that is slightly imperfect .  It’s the author as well.

On this side of eternity, I’m going to have my imperfections. Some abundantly evident to others, some known only to me (and God, of course).  But my value to God is not going to be diminished because parts of my life are marred or dog-eared or bent up a little.  He loves me in spite of them, and He’ll graciously and patiently push me to work on them.  

One day, I’ll stand perfect before Him.  But until then, I’ll let things like a link that says “slightly imperfect sharon virkler” remind me of God’s amazing grace in my life.

God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.  2 Samuel 22:33

Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.          Matthew 5:48

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Colossians 4:12

“God is more interested in our trust than our understanding.” (source unknown)

OK, whoever said this last week on the radio in my car isn’t really unknown, he’s just unknown to me because I can’t remember his name.  If you know who it was, let me know and I’d be happy to give him credit.

But in the meantime, I’m going to savor his words. 

How amazingly and simply true.  God is more interested in my trust than in my understanding of my circumstances and what He is doing in my life.  He’s not going to be impressed with a detailed analysis of things from my perspective.  He’s not going to be impressed with my ability to process events and challenges and resulting “ah-ha” moments.

My trust in the absence of “ah-ha” moments is what He’s asking for.  It’s easier to attempt to understand rather than to trust.  But I’m willing to try trusting. 

Because that’s what He’s more interested in.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5

Trust in Him at all times, you people.  Psalm 62:8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.  Jeremiah 17:7

O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!  Psalm 84:12

I’ve been passing the same road “improvement” project on my way to work for about 9 months now.  Can’t figure out what’s taking so long.  It’s only about a half-mile of pavement.  Lots of activity, but not a whole lot of progress. 

At least from my car-bound vantage point.

One morning last week I stopped at the red light and was able to watch for a while.  Two guys in hard hats, reflective vests and steel-toed boots were staring intently at a huge pile of unrolled papers laid out on the hood of a big white pickup truck.  Blueprints (or the road construction equivalent), I presumed.  The hard hat guys  looked serious. They looked like they knew what they were doing.

“Oh, so there is a plan here”, I sarcastically thought to myself, rolling my eyes. 

They would have thought I was nuts if I had gotten out of my car and insisted that I had a right to see it, demanding to know what was taking so long and why no progress was being made.  And they probably would have had me arrested, but that’s another issue altogether.

And it’s the same with God’s plans for my life.  He knows what He’s doing even if it looks to me like not a whole lot of progress is being made or things are taking way too long.  I don’t have the right to demand that He lays them all out for me.  And sarcasm about the plan is out of the question.

I need to keep trusting, and keep moving.  And leave the blueprints to Him.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Corinthians 2:8

A twelve foot alligator staking out his territory in the canal.  A shy little otter who ran away when we interrupted his playtime.  A red-shouldered hawk watching motionless from a tree.  Birds with funny sounding names like “coot” and “anhinga” wading and diving in the lake.  Turtles floating lazily, just their heads visible above the water line.

Just a typical South Florida afternoon walk in the park.

Even though I occasionally question God’s liberal use of heat and humidity in the Sunshine State (OK, it’s probably more than occasionally if I’m going to be honest), I think He had a pretty good time unleashing His creativity here.  And our walk in the park  last weekend made that abundantly evident.

God must love watching these creatures do what He created them to do, whether it’s lurking in the canal, running along the banks or poised on a branch.  He has a reason for what they look like and where they live and what they do.  They glorify Him just by being what He meant them to be.

I need to let Saturday afternoon walks in the park remind me to stop and think about what God wants from my life.  There’s something He created me for, something He wants me to do and someplace He wants me to do it.

I need to walk in the park more often.

In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?       Job 12:10

Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.  Isaiah 43:20

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine”.  Isaiah 43:1

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?  Psalm 8:3-4

 

My sister got an e-mail from me last week.  That’s not very unusual, as we exchange messages back and forth almost daily.  But there was something pretty weird about this one.

I sent it to her two years ago.

Two years!  It said I sent it last Wednesday, but I didn’t.  It was a picture of a dress I was thinking about buying for my brother’s wedding.  He got married in March…of 2009.  No wonder my sister was a little confused when she got it. 

I want answers!  I want to know where this message was and why it was hiding and what prompted it to show up last week out of the blue!  The frustrating part is that I’ll probably never find out. 

Prayers can seem like that sometimes.  We send out a message to God, and then it feels like it disappears.  Where did it go?  Why isn’t God responding?  Did the message get lost?  Did it go in some heavenly spam folder?  (Just had to put that one in, even though I am quite sure something like that does not actually exist.)

Silly, I know.  Of course God gets our messages.  It’s a promise.  They don’t get lost.  They don’t get ignored. They don’t get hidden.  God knows exactly where they are and when and how He’ll respond.  If an answer shows up “out of the blue” years from now, it’s not because God suddenly found a lost file.  It’s because He intended on answering it in His time, not ours.

I am so glad my God is infinitely more reliable than my e-mail!

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words”.  Daniel 10:12

It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us! John 5:14

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him.  Psalm 91:15