Waiting Patiently For God's Perfect Timing

There was a family who had a small Scottish terrier who would go to their back door and bark and bark until someone finally got the message and let it out. One day, a handyman had come to do some work on the house while everyone else was gone. That little dog took up his station at the back door and barked incessantly all day. 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. — 1 John 5:14

When the family returned home to find the handyman finishing up, he told them about how the dog had been barking all day at the door. The homeowner told him that his neighbors had said the same thing. “The sad thing is,” the owner said, “it never occurs to the little guy that all his barking is totally useless when no one’s home to hear!”

Through the Fire

"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12).

Through his griefs Job came to his heritage. He was tried that his godliness might be confirmed. Are not my troubles intended to deepen my character and to robe me in graces I had little of before? I come to my glory through eclipses, tears, death. My ripest fruit grows against the roughest wall. Job's afflictions left him with higher conceptions of God and lowlier thoughts of himself. "Now," he cried, "mine eye seeth thee.

And if, through pain and loss, I feel God so near in His majesty that I bend low before Him and pray, "Thy will be done," I gain very much. God gave Job glimpses of the future glory. In those wearisome days and nights, he penetrated within the veil, and could say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Surely the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning.
--In the Hour of Silence

Instead of Trying Harder, Trust More

by Rick Warren

  

Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm 37:7a GW)

Surrendering your life means:

- Following God’s lead without knowing where he’s sending you.

- Waiting for God’s timing without knowing when it will come.

- Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide.

- Trusting God’s purpose without understanding the circumstances.

You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don’t have to always be "in charge." Instead of trying harder, you trust more.

You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself.

Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You are not self-serving, you don’t edge others out, and you don’t demand your rights.