Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Because we are all friends here, I’m just going to dive right into it: God doesn’t always come when we want Him to. I so badly wish we were having this conversation over a warm cup of coffee. I would gently remind you that God doesn’t operate based on our timeline. I would then tell you that I completely understand the depths of anxiety that come from not knowing. I understand the ‘what if’s’ and taking things into our own hands when an answer doesn’t come when we expect it to.
Even though God doesn’t always come when we want Him to, He is always right on time.
I thought I understood this concept to my core. I’ve grown up in church and have been following Jesus for as long as I can remember. However, what God is teaching me is that there is a strong difference between understanding something and truly believing and applying it to my life.
I recently got engaged to the love of my life. My fiance and I have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father in this season leading up to marriage. We have been in awe with who God has brought into our lives both prior to meeting each other and since we have been together. However, there are holes in my heart from certain members in my family who are having a hard time celebrating with us. This has caused my heart much anxiety, worry, and disappointment. I have had to make a choice every single day to choose to walk in peace; to choose to trust God and His promises for my life. I have had to choose to continue to pray, to continue to seek, to continue to knock even when my feelings don’t always follow and especially when I don’t have an answer when I think I should. There are days when I want to hang the banner of the victim over my head rather than the banner of victory.
Thankfully, for you and me, God is always right on time. In the midst of waiting, God is working. He is showing up. It may not have been the way I asked or in the timing that my flesh desires, but it has always exceeded my expectations.
What I know for certain and pray that you capture in the depths of your heart, is that persisting in prayer, no matter how hard it is or how long an answer takes, will happen only when we believe that God is who He says He is!
We have a choice to make. Will we choose to believe that God is who He says He is? Will we choose to believe that He is the Prince of Peace? Will we choose to trust that He is fighting our battles? When God’s daughters choose to hold the banner of victory over their lives rather than the banner of victim or lies, Heaven comes a little closer to earth and we each begin to step into the freedom that God has for each one of us.
Reflection Questions:
- On an honest scale of 1-10, how much do you trust God with your life? (10 being ‘I completely trust Him’)
- In the midst of an unknown circumstance, do you find yourself leaning into God & community or do you take control into your own hands?
- Look back on your thought patterns thus far this week. How many of those thoughts are lies? How many are God’s thoughts?
Practical Applications:
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE when someone gives me new tools for my toolbox. Below are some practical applications that I have used in times of worry, anxiety or waiting on God.
- Write down your thought patterns. Begin to take every thought captive. Make two separate columns. One side write ‘lies’ and the other side write ‘truth.’ It will look something like this:
|
Lies: |
Truth: |
- Write down any lie that enters into your thoughts on the left-hand side
- Then, replace that lie with truth by writing what God has to say on the right-hand side
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
- Remind yourself that you have a choice. We are not victims of our emotions & feelings. When Jesus died, He took anxiety and worry with Him and forever gave us the freedom to walk in peace. We get to choose. We can choose to be anxious for nothing.
Finally, what is true?
Our goal as daughters of the King should be to strive toward excellence rather than perfection. You were never called to be perfect. But God does call us to excellence; striving toward excellence means, ‘I am striving to be my very best, working hard to do things the right way, and shifting my focus to honor God and not the ways of this world.’ By doing so, I am confident that we will suffocate any lie or thought that isn’t from God and walk in a peace that surpasses all understanding while trusting that God is always right on time.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being a Dad who is patient with His children. Thank you for your peace and your unwavering kindness. Thank you for always being right on time. Forgive me when I get impatient and when I try to take control into my own hands. God, I give You full control. I choose to trust in you and I choose to trust that you will always provide for me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Meet the Author:
Kristen Meyer is a marketing professional, a lover of writing and an avid volunteer in her local community. Her passion and heart are to help women thrive in their God-given callings and unique gifts. In her free time, she blogs about embracing the everyday challenges of life while finding freedom in truly existing fully in your own skin. You can also find her chasing around a very hyper and cute golden retriever named Brody. You can read more on her blog at Existingfully.com.