Active (not passive) Waiting

I am a grateful follower of The Gospel Coalition Blog. It feeds me with truth and food for important thought while keeping my heart looking more broadly at the issues facing Christians today than I am sometimes inclined to look if left to my own narrow vision.

A few weeks ago, my husband Larry forwarded me one of their posts which I had missed. The post by Phil Tripp, titled God's Will for Your Wait, resonated deeply with us. The last number of years have involved many seasons of waiting for us. Things we have waited for include healing, jobs, a book publisher, financial recovery and security, ministry clarity, partnership opportunities and so on. I know there are many who can relate to that struggle — experiencing some seasons of clear vision and mobilization and other seasons of waiting and wondering about God's presence and purposes.

If you have ever wondered about God's will in your waiting seasons or if you are wrestling, like us, through one of those right now, please take a few minutes to read that post. It offers very practical and gospel-centered direction.

Our family is traveling as you read this (some work and some play in Nashville). It's been a time for continued prayer seeking God's heart about the direction of our ministry and family. Even as we wrestle through wishing we could know more about God's higher ways, we are also grateful for the ways that wrestling draws us into closer step with Him. Knowing that Abraham's waiting (Romans 4:18-21) was also for our benefit is a great encouragement and an inspiring model.

Let us remember we are never alone in our waiting and let's be active in the process — celebrating, studying and yielding to the One who credits our faith to us as righteousness.

Lord, may our waiting be an act of worship! AMEN

It's Marriage Prayer Friday!

Today we're going to take up an offering of marriage and trust that every stretch is worth the effort.

A prayer for your own marriage—

GRACIOUS LORD, you keep giving us good gifts in our marriage even when they are undeserved or we are unaware that they are there. Make us a couple who is welcoming to You in all of our circumstances. Keep us attentive to Your presence and grateful for it. Teach us how to express our thankfulness to You by sharing generously with others. Even when we feel we have so little to give, Lord, make much of it! Take our small spaces, our little leftovers, our thin schedules of time, our struggling love and magnify it for Your kingdom purposes. Stretch us to give sacrificially and cheerfully of our time and ourselves so that others may be blessed to know they are WORTH it. Thank you for Your promise that when we step out in faith and obedience to You, there will be a revelation of Your character, power and love that is unmistakable. Show us Your glory, Lord! AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

GRACIOUS LORD, you keep giving good gifts to my married friends even when they are undeserved or we they are unaware that You are there. Make these friends couples who are welcoming to You in all of their circumstances. Keep them attentive to Your presence and grateful for it. Teach them how to express their thankfulness to You by sharing generously with others. Even when they feel they have so little to give, Lord, make much of it! Take their small spaces, their little leftovers, their thin schedules of time, their struggling love and magnify it for Your kingdom purposes. Stretch them to give sacrificially and cheerfully of their time and themselves so that others may be blessed to know they are WORTH it. Remind them of Your promise that when they step out in faith and obedience to You, there will be a revelation of Your character, power and love that is unmistakable. Show them Your glory, Lord! AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

As we round out another cycle through the Road Map to Glory, let’s take time to reflect on God’s faithfulness in our lives.

He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.” Joshua 4:21-24

What does celebrating and remembering God’s faithfulness look like in your family? Like the rock piles from the Old Testament (there were several, by the way), do you have special traditions that help inspire new generations into a relationship with God?

If you are part of a past or current Finding Glory Group, please give us your feedback about what is going well, what could be better, and how God is working. Your comments help us develop and improve future resources. Please write us at larry@walkrightin.org or lisa@walkrightin.org.

These “Finding Glory Wednesdays” posts are an online discussion series based on the books Finding Glory in the Thorns and the companion Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide by Larry and Lisa Jamieson. For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.