Waiting For the Lord

One day the Lord impressed me with a fact. So much of the anxiety in my life has had to do with waiting—especially waiting for answers to prayer.

Since then I’ve thought a lot about waiting.

I’ve discovered that waiting is about trusting, and it’s imperative that I be willing not only to wait but to do so with a better attitude.

As I’ve talked to and observed other Christians, I discovered having difficulty with waiting is a universal problem. I’ve also found that in waiting my faith is tested.

My desire is to pass God’s waiting tests with flying colors and honor Him as I do. And even if I’m feeling weary, I can choose to wait with a thankful, hope-filled heart.

The good news is that as I wait on the Lord with the proper attitude, He takes away my weariness and draws me close to Himself. Isaiah 40:31 reminds me of this and brings such comfort to my heart—even as I continue to wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled in my life.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. AMP

I long to embrace this verse in a deeper way than I ever have before. Today I choose to believe that during the waiting God will supply strength, power, and energy and that on the other side of waiting are wonders beyond description.

Will you join me in waiting expectantly and looking to and for the Lord in every difficulty in life? What joy we can have—even as we wait.

To hear more about Waiting For The Lord listen to “Hearts Set Free with Elaine” radio show– www.wtis1110.com on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 10:30am EST.

Embracing God’s Will

Years ago when I first heard of Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, I remember he spoke often of two kinds of children: the strong-willed child and the compliant child.

In looking up the word strong-willed recently, here is the definition I found: strong-minded, obstinate, stubborn, firm, independent, uncompromising, unbending, defiant.

Another definition said “determined to do something that you want to do, even if others do not want you to do it.”

For compliant I found: manageable, capable of being controlled, submissive, conformable, willing, obedient, nonresistant.

I confess that too often as a Christian child of God I have fallen under the strong-willed category.    

The good news is that any of us can be transformed from being a strong-willed to a compliant child—from a child who resists the Lord to a child that submits.

Over the years, I can see God at work in me making me into a more compliant child.

Recently as I prayed about this battle of resisting vs embracing God’s will, this is what came to mind. “Surrender to My will. Keep in your mind: ‘not my will, but Yours be done.’ Stop resisting. Will to do My will. Ask what My will is.”

As I meditated on surrendering to God’s will vs insisting on my own way, I thought of John 5:30 in the Amplified Bible which presents what Jesus said on the subject:

…I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.

 Every time I read that, I find it amazing to discover how compliant Jesus was. I know that my Savior said and lived these words from John 5:30 as an example and as a goal for me and for other Christians.

I’m relieved to discover I don’t have to learn compliance on my own. As I determine to submit to God and will to do His will, He helps brings me closer to being able to say of every issue in my life: 

…not my will, but yours be done.”  Luke 22:42 NIV

My part is to be willing to continue on this sometimes difficult journey to the place where my only desire is to do His will.

That’s where I want to go.

Are you willing to join me on that journey?  

To hear more about Embracing God’s Will go to www.wtis1110.com and Listen Live to my radio show, Hearts Set Free with Elaine at 10:30am on Saturday, February 18, 2012.

Sweet Surrender

     I’m still thinking about surrender. As I contemplated the subject this week, the Lord brought these words to mind: “sweet surrender.”  

     That’s what God desires from me. He doesn’t rejoice when I obey through gritted teeth. What He longs for from me is a sweetness in submitting to Him. And sweetness is also what’s on the other side of this kind of surrender.  

     How often I have experienced that. After fretting and fearing and frantically trying to work things out in a difficult circumstance, God has gently whispered to me to let go. His voice has been so tender that it melted my heart.  Surrendering seemed easy and a welcome relief. And the end result was sweet.   

     How sweet? Just think of a time when you craved a certain kind of special chocolate you had not had  in a long time–either because it wasn’t available or you decided to give up sugary foods for awhile. When you took that first bite of chocolate, it tasted so sweet.

     How much sweeter it is to be reconnected to the Father as a result of surrender. Chocolate brings a certain pleasure to the taste buds, but surrender to God brings a wave of joy to the soul. 

     At those moments I have wondered, “Why did I wait so long?”

     Once I am in that place of humble, eager surrender to God, I feel a closeness to Him that is difficult to describe. Although He is invisible, it’s as if I am wrapped up in His arms and I sense a look of pleasure on His face.  

Psalm 17:15 describes this:

As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

 I’m realizing that the sense of “This is so sweet,” is not just on my side. That’s how God feels when I surrender to Him with the trusting abandon of a little child.

 Oh Lord, how I long to be fully surrendered to You. Please break down my resistance. Continue to work in my heart to bring me to and keep me in that place of sweet surrender.

 Can you join me in that prayer?

 *****

To hear more about sweet surrender go to www.wtis1110.com and press “Listen Live” to listen to Hearts Set Free with Elaine on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:30am EST.

God loves it when we give up.

We’ve all said, “I give up” when we feel frustrated. At those moments we want to quit jobs, marriages, or relationships with difficult people.  Or maybe our “I give up” attitude is over more simple things like a repair job at home that seems impossible.

Quite a few years ago I said, “I give up” during a moment of exasperation.  Right now I can’t remember  what I was so perturbed about, but I’m pretty sure it involved a family member.

I wasn’t speaking my declaration to the Lord, but I heard Him whisper, “I’m so glad.”

He then proceeded to show me that the kind of giving up He delights in is when we give up on our way of doing things, our schemes to fix people, our plans to bring about a better outcome to the dilemmas in our lives. All of this is what I was caught up in.

Shortly after my “I give up” proclamation, He gave me a little song:

“I give up, Lord. I give up, Lord.

I give up, Lord all to You.

I give up my plan; my life’s in Your hands.

I give up my way; I’ll do what You say.

I give up, Lord, all to You.”

Since then that song has come back to mind again and again when I slide back into being dedicated to my plans, my schemes, my dreams instead of calling on the Lord and asking, “What do You want me to do?”

God repeatedly reminds me to stop carrying around my cares but to instead do this:

“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NKJV

Today I once again embrace this truth—that surrendering to the Lord and His way and will is the only path to fulfillment and peace in this life. And so I declare it once again.

I give up!

Will you join me?

To hear more about “The Beauty of Giving Up” go to www.wtis1110.com on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:30am and press “Listen Live” to listen to Hearts Set Free with Elaine.  

 

 

 

 

Letting Go of “No Way” Thinking

No way.

How often we say that to the Lord. We may not utter the words out loud, but the manner in which we live proclaims it loud and clear.

We declare it most when we’re going through dark days—whether in our marriages, in our relationships with our children or other loved ones, in hard times with our health.

We look at situations and assert “There is no way…”

If we were to finish the sentence honestly, it would be “…that God can come through in this.”

No way thinking causes us to give up on God’s intervention.  It embraces unbelief.

No way thoughts I’ve had in the past are:

–There is no way I can stay in this marriage.

–There is no way I can lose weight.

–There is no way this person can be saved.

–There is no way I can stop this bad habit.

And the list goes on.

Yet in the middle of my “no way” mindset where spiritual blindness and deafness have begun to set in, God whispers: “Elaine,

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NIV

He reminds me:

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Isaiah 55:9

And when it comes to my struggles in relationships, once I start really listening, He brings back to my mind that there’s one thing that rules His way which I tend to leave out of mine.     

And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all--love]. 1 Corinthians 12:31 AMP

Today as I once again battle “no way” thinking, I’m determined to embrace God’s whispers of truth. I will let go of my way and embrace a far superior, life-changing, supernatural way.

His.

How about you? Have you fallen into the trap of “no way” thinking? Today will You embrace God and His way? Wonders will follow.

For more about “Letting Go of ‘No Way’ Thinking” tune in to Hearts Set Free with Elaine radio show– www.wtis1110.com at 10:30am on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Here is the link to the Jan 21^st show—Exercising Our Faith.

http://www.wtis1110archives.com/Hearts_Set_Free_with_Elaine_1-21-12.wma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercising My Faith

One of my goals for 2012 is “Exercise More.”

As I’ve been thinking about how to do that, the idea of exercising my faith more came to mind.

A verse from Scripture says:

^… bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things…(1 Timothy 4:8 NKJV)

When I think of exercising my faith to become more godly, I think of stepping out in faith—of having faith for things I was unable to believe for in the past. It’s about praying prayers outside my comfort zone and believing God will answer.

I remember my daughter Tami at six years old. The doctor declared our cat, Riffy, had an infection which was unresponsive to medications. He told us to take him home, that he would get sicker, and then we could bring him back to be put to sleep.

My thought was to prepare our children for the death of our cat. I took Tami aside to talk to her about the situation. Before I could tell her everything, she prayed, “God I know You are powerful, and I know that You would not take my best friend away. Thank You that he is going to get well.”

At the time I couldn’t help but think of Hebrews 11:1.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Our cat did get well. Everyone was amazed but Tami. She exercised her faith by praying a believing prayer. She did not focus on the circumstance or even the “facts.” She looked at God and believed in His power to heal.

I’m asking God to help me exercise my faith more in the same way. Instead of believing people when they say, “It’s hopeless,” “It can’t be done,” or “Death is inevitable”—whether death of a dream, death of a marriage, or death of a loved one–I’m determined to pray for God to intervene in miraculous ways with His resurrection power.

From experience I know He intervenes in that way, but sometimes I get complacent. I give in to doubt and unbelief. Godlessness (not calling God into the situation) begins to creep in and crowd out godliness. Fear can overwhelm my faith and the result is feeble, faithless prayers.

I’m heading for the workout room—my prayer closet—more often this year.  I want to get into better shape spiritually than I’ve ever been. I’m excited about the miracles that will bring–especially in my heart.

How about you? Is your faith flabby? In need of some strengthening? Are you ready to exercise your faith by believing our big God for some big answers to prayer in 2012?

To hear more about Exercising My Faith, go to www.wtis1110.com and listen live to my radio show, Hearts Set Free with Elaine on Saturday, January 21st.  

Here is the link to the January 14th show with the theme of “Turning Around Negative Thinking.”

http://www.wtis1110archives.com/Hearts_Set_Free_1-14-12.wma  

Turning Around My Thinking

I heard once that the maturity of a Christian can be determined by measuring the time span between when something bad happens and when you begin praising the Lord about that event.

This saying came to mind recently as I dealt with a loved one making an ungodly decision leading to a bad outcome. Instead of feeling hopeful about this person’s future as I had before, I began to slip into gloom and doom thinking.

I felt tempted to cut off contact. My mind entertained thoughts that this person proclaiming he had found Christ was all a hoax. I let feelings of disappointment and despair take over whenever this person’s name or face came to mind.

But then God whispered, “Remember; I told you to love him unconditionally.”

He reminded me that His instruction had not changed. He also brought to my memory a prayer I’d prayed recently, “Lord, let everything that’s hidden come out into the open.”

What had happened was an answer to that prayer.  

Instead of staying focused on this person and the bad choice he had made, I discovered God wanted to  show me my recent bad decision. Although he had not acted like a Christian, God revealed I wasn’t thinking like one. 

When something unexcepted happens, and my response immediately jumps to the negative, that’s unwise. It seems once I board the train of negative thinking, it’s difficult to get off.  

But there’s a way to jump off the speeding train. And that’s to leap into the Word of God and embrace verses which speak of my thought life and my mind.

Isaiah 26:3 helped bring me out of negative thinking and back into a “Praise the Lord” frame of mind.  

 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  KJV

There is a question God wants me to be asking instead of, “Can this person be trusted?”

That question is:  “Do I trust God?”

I’m still learning to, and He’s an excellent teacher.

What about you? When a crisis arises in your life, do you tend to be flooded with negative thoughts and a sense of despair concerning people or circumstances? Turn to the Lord today, and He can help turn your thinking around.   

Cut and paste the following link to read my article “When Those You Love Let You Down; Five Ways to Dealing with Disappointment” which is in the January  2012 issue of MTL online magazine.

http://www.mtlmagazine.com/mtlmagazine/departments/articles.php?cat=my_life