God loves us sooooooo much! It would do this encouragement injustice to not provide some background. This weekend I rode the struggle bus and my house showed it! My mother always tells me, “The condition of your house reveals the condition of your mind.” Basically, she was saying that If your mind is junky and messy, it will start to show in your home. Boy oh boy did it show! Work had been occupying the better part of my LIFE week, lol, and I felt I had no time at all for cleaning my house, let alone my mind. I was discouraged.
I’m sure I am not the only one either that if my house is a mess I cannot relax to sense the presence and voice of God ministering to me as easy. It seems like that makes me more emotional, because I want to hear and sense Him and I want to enjoy the time I spend with Him, but when the house and my mind feel cluttered, it is rough. I can hear some of y’all saying, “Well just clean up!” If it was that easy, I would have been did it. But fast forward to the end of this testimony, it WAS that easy. God encouraged my soul this weekend which gave me strength and a jolt to clean up… then, He invited me to play a game… the waiting game.
I was in the midst of cleaning and organizing my dresser when My Elizabeth called and said the Holy Spirit dropped one hot off the press! OF COURSE I was ready to hear whatever Holy Spirit had to say, so in excitement of what He told her, she invited me (and I am inviting YOU) to play the waiting game! This is what she shared:
The Waiting Game
If you want to wait successfully for the fullness of God in your life, you have to totally redefine in your heart what waiting is and how to do it. God wants us to wait successfully and it is not simply for cars and houses, husbands and babies, healings and help. He wants us to wait with faithful hearts for the Second Coming of His Son Jesus Christ. He wants to know in all forms of waiting that we will remain in Him, obedient and full of hope even if TIME maxes out our self-created timeline. TIME is a system God has created to develop us into the children He desires that we be. TIME is a gift.
A part of the gift of time, God’s system to develop maximum quality of person for His glory, is waiting. Waiting is as hard as you make it, but God has given US encouragement TODAY on HOW to wait WELL! These are the steps to playing The Waiting Game:
- Listen to others testimonies in Hebrews 11. Our goal is to gain a great testimony. Revelations 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Testimony helps us overcome! Hebrews 11 shows us TRUE testimonies on how to suffer well. FLOOD yourself with true testimony!
- Seek God desperately! first thing to do to understand this is to define “seek.” Learn where to look for God at! The world tells us to look high, but the WORD tells us to look low.
Seeking God desperately shows us three things:
- His characteristics
- His location
- His command
Learn His characteristics so you’re not confused on what He looks like.
My Elizabeth
Next part of the waiting game once you learn His characteristics, location, and command is to:
- Meditate on His command day and night (Joshua 1:8). We have to consume the command like we do food. I eat morning, noon, and night, and even a few snacks. When we consume the command, that means we are abiding in Him and His Word in us (John 15:7)
- Practice! If we want a new perspective on waiting, we need an understanding of vocabulary. Define these words to start:
| petition | gratitude |
| prayer | servitude |
| thanksgiving | humility |
| praise | goodness |
| blessing | kindness |
- Learn the definitions for these words, then practice using them
- Look for examples in the Word that define that word. Ask questions like, “Who in the Bible was in thanksgiving?” “What were they thankful for?” “How did they express it?”
This next part is the GAME CHANGER in your wait… Be encouraged by the challenge and GO FOR IT! You’re a hearer and a DOER! #takethechallenge #goforit #Joshuaspirit
- Rehearse the good more than the bad! (Y’all I am famous for rehearsing the bad, but the buck stops here TODAY!) If you’re going to rehearse anything, rehearse the testimonies of those who suffered well in their wait and reflect on the victories that God is giving you as you exercise truth!
- Don’t tear yourself down! Be your biggest encourager! Be your biggest fan!
How do I continue to win in the waiting game and encourage myself?
Speak LIFE! We can build ourselves up by:
- Give thanks for the opportunity to exercise (waiting)
Acknowledge the victories! It shows God that you are acknowledging his direction and heeding the opportunity. When we do this, He creates MORE opportunity!
My Elizabeth
Next, we are to:
- Celebrate your training exercise!
- Acknowledge Him in ALL things- this is your daily devotion
Turn complaints into compliments!
- Ask that He makes you sensitive to His direction
Summary
In the Waiting Game, we are to define, find examples, and DO. We must:
- Learn how to praise (exercise it) and
- Absolutely always give thanks to God
Sis, we can wait well! Stay focused; use tunnel vision in this season. Let’s keep our eyes off of other people and have our gaze set on God. And when you feel the longsuffering, review these game instructions and see if you perfected it. What we will realize when we do that is that God is never late. While we are playing the game, the point is not that we were just waiting on God… God was waiting on us!
Quick little testimony…
Last quick testimony… I tried this and it led to a fruitful outcome. I was at odds with a family member I loved. God ministered to me about being vulnerable with Him and others to His love can reach and change me and them. I was scared and stressed about it, but because He sent the encouragement to me, I wanted to obey. I asked, “what is vulnerability?” I defined it. I then said, “God, can you show me folks in the Bible that were vulnerable with you? This is challenging for me because I do not want to get hurt again, yet I really want to trust you in this and see the greatest outcome.” I sought the Lord and His examples in scripture. Sure as my name is Jerrica, the opportunity to make things right and apologize arose. As fear tried to creep in, I quickly obeyed God and did not give backtalk or excuses. I apologized. Glory to God, it was received and we moved on in peaceful interactions. I celebrated with my friend that obedience worked and God deposited peace for my obedience to Him. So you see? The peace was always available, but God was waiting for ME to suffer well through the discomfort, seek him, and exercise the obedience! It works! I won The Waiting game in that circumstance!
Be encouraged! Thank you Jesus Christ for the revelation! #Godiswaitingonme
Refresh Her Course 