What Kind of Waiter Am I?

What kind of waiter am I? 

I'm not talking about delivering your dinner to the table 

because I know how that would go. 

I mean when I pray about something and I am then forced to wait on the answer....

what kind of wait-er am I? 

What am I doing/thinking/feeling during the waiting?

wringing my hands?

thinking that God doesn't care?

am I anxious?

am I fretful?

am I talking it to death with anyone who will listen?

complaining about it?

whining about it?

do I keep it to myself and quietly worry?

And the key question might be.......Who am I listening to???

satan filling my head with doubts and thoughts,

trying to convince me that God doesn't care about my circumstance?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes!

At one time or another I've answered yes to every one of these questions.

I'm sure we all have.

But what should we be doing?

What is the job of the waiting?

What is the job of the wait-er?

I think the answer (and the question) is TRUST.

Do I really trust that God knows and that God cares?

Maybe the job of the waiting is to build trust, 

to grow our relationship with God.

Waiting certainly keeps me talking to HIM more.

But as I'm talking to HIM, I also need to remember to listen to HIM.

I need to listen to the voice of God, 

who constantly reminds me that HE loves me, 

HE cares about my circumstance, 

HE loves those that I am praying for more than I do.

HE knows what HE is doing!

I need to choose to TRUST HIM. 

I need to pray faithfully and then wait expectantly,

watching for the answer to come,

looking for the miracle to happen.

You are my strength, I watch for you;

you, God, are my fortress

my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 59:9-10

Audience of ONE

Ever come up with a really great idea,

the greatest lesson plan ever,

an excellent bulletin board idea?

Ok, so maybe you're not a teacher.

Maybe you are the person who......

had the most sales,

built the best deck ever, 

holds the record for the fastest time in the drive-thru.

What do you do with that?

Run tell someone?

Keep it to yourself?

Thank God?

I was reading this morning in the book of Acts,

the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

Now I know that what they were bragging about was a lie,

but they took it and ran straight to the apostles.

My "what if" mind says....

what if what we are running to tell is the truth?

Is it ok then?

Does it bring to mind the phrase,

"It's not bragging if it's the truth"?

Either way, the point is the same for me today.

When we do great things (whether it's the truth or a lie that we've made up)

do we then want the approval of God or the approval of man for having done it?

Do we talk about our great things LOUDLY IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE 

so they will "just happen" to overhear us and commend us for being so great?

Do we keep it quiet and secretly hope that someone finds out and tells everyone?

Warren W. Wiersbe said,

 "Once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, 

there is no end to the things we will do

 just to make ourselves "look good" before others."

We can wear ourselves out trying to make sure that everyone knows 

all the great things we have done.

But then what?

On to the next great thing?

On to tell the next person we see?

What happens when the applause fades?

Because it will certainly fade.

Maybe in that moment when we want to speak up brag,

we pause and then say HIS name instead of our own.

Let's perform for an audience of ONE.

Let's allow HIM to decide how HE will acknowledge what HE has allowed us to do,

And then if someone does happen to notice, 

let's use that opportunity to point to HIM,

to brag on HIM and what HE has accomplished through us.

That's the kind of bragging that can change lives,

that's the kind of bragging that can last for eternity.

The Song in Your Head

WORRY, WORRY, WORRY!

LOL as I typed that out 3 times, a tune popped into my head.

Guess what it was......(go ahead, guess!)

ok, I'll tell you.......

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!

Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee!

I have some possible changes coming up soon

and yes I'm human so it all makes me VERY WORRIED!

A friend of mine sent me these verses this morning. 

It's so sad that after reading them a million times since childhood that I (we all) still worry about so many (big and small) things. Even after God has walked us through so many situations in our lives, after HE has been so faithful, we still get to the next thing and start worrying. 

WORRY, WORRY, WORRY

(did you sing it that time to the tune of HOLY, HOLY, HOLY?)

Since God popped that song into my head this morning,

it's what I'm going to focus on today.

Instead of worrying about all the details that I'm trying to work out in my head, 

I'm going to focus on HIM and HIS holiness today.

So let this be the song in your head today.....

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!