I don’t know about you but waiting on God can sometimes be difficult to do. It can also mean something very different if you are waiting during seasons in your life. A season of waiting for something to change like a relationship, job change, life change or loss. Waiting on God has looked very different to me during the various seasons in my life. Waiting on God requires a great deal of patience but it also requires that you find time to stop all the noise in your life and quietly open yourself up so that you can hear God speaking to you.

When I say hear it doesn’t mean what you traditionally think of hearing with your ears. It means listening to God in the many ways He chooses to communicate with you. I know I’ve experienced God’s word in many forms. Through reading the Bible; an email from a friend with the answers to the questions I had just prayed for the day before; a friend stopping by just when I cried out to God feeling alone; a nudge to do something even if it felt weird. God chooses to communicate to us in many ways, we just have to be open and willing to receive it regardless of the avenue.

In recent posts I’ve written about Andy Stanley’s recent series #InTheMeanTime and how that resonates with me and my journey through the loss of my daughter. Grief doesn’t just up and decide to leave one day. Grief stays with you forever, it just looks and feels different. It may not come as often, or as hard, like waves crashing around you, but it will always be a part of your journey. That is why it is vitally important to understand grief and respect it. Learn to reach out for help when you need it and pray often. I talked to God often, sometimes, hourly, during my initial journey. I wasn’t sure how to deal with all the emotion that came crashing down on me. I didn’t know then what #InTheMeanTime meant then. As the years progressed I have learned that while I many not always “feel” God around me, in my faith which is grown, I have comfort that He is here with me. It just may not be how I envisioned it.

Being mature in my faith or on my walk through this valley of darkness, does not mean it isn’t painful nor does it mean that I am “over” the loss of my daughter or the other members of my family that have died too soon. It just means that I can continue my life with the certainty that God is always present, but not always visible in the ways that you and I understand. Daily conversations with God can help us to sense His presence and I know that because on the days when I don’t frequently communicate with God, I feel a little lonely for Him. The comfort He brings to my broken life has made all the difference. It is how I can keep going each day. How I get up and face the world when all around me are constant reminders of what I have lost. It’s not easy, but it’s easier when I remain focused on God’s promise that He will never leave.

Encourage you to visit Andy’s #InTheMeanTime series and I hope that it provides you the encouragement as it has me.

http://northpointonline.tv/

Until next time,

M