Don’t Toss That Highlighter Away Quite Yet.

I love everything about the word SCHEDULE! It’s a beautiful thing, from pulling out my assortment of brightly colored highlighters down to hole punching tabs and papers neatly bound in my three ring binder. I secretly (well, it’s not so much of a secret, anymore) will pull out all my binders and relish in the wonderment of my personal organization. (Then, I quickly put them away before anyone sees me...hee hee.)

But in my life right now, I am in a season of “Wait.” Have you ever been there? Or are you there now? No fun. And certainly goes against everything a SCHEDULE oriented person would prefer. My heart knows that God is with me. I feel Him. I have prayed and taken my personal challenges to Him. Yet, I still wait. Then, I begin to doubt. Not in Him, in me. What am I missing that He is trying to show me? Since I am still waiting, He must be still trying to show me something. What is it? Then, back to prayer I go. It’s this back and forth thing. And while I feel my faith has not waivered and I fully trust His timing is perfect, I still find myself wanting the “How” and “When.” As this wait continued to prolong itself, I began to realize that although my back has never turned on Him, my thoughts still have been focused on what this “Wait” looks like for ME. And here are (at least) 2 things that I am missing…

One: the everyday blessings that He provides us - the smile from a stranger, the moments nature scream His name, the verse that sticks with me as I notice it scroll across my Facebook feed and the timing of a hug from my child. And two: the opportunities He is showing me to be used for others. How am I supposed to hear Him if all I am doing is focusing on what I want from my prayers and when it’s going to happen?

In my season of “Wait,” He is showing me to STOP praying for the “WHEN” and the “HOW” and START praying that He WILL! I am learning to have an expectancy that He is working on my behalf. Period.

A variety of highlighters still rest on my desk. I love them. But now I look at them as little blessings that God knows brings me joy and not look at them as what controls my world. I will WAIT on the Lord and know that His “WHEN” and “HOW” are NOT going to look the way I might expect them to, but will look the way that will bring Him the most glory. Now that was worthy of highlighting.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeni Barbush
loveSTRONG ministries
Executive Director
www.loveSTRONGministries.com