Worth the Wait

“Short cuts only cut short the joy of the destination.”

Loren Thornburg

Many times in my impatience of a long line of cars and foreseeing having to wait I take the more appealing shorter line of cars going a different direction, thinking it will be quicker, but very rarely is this the case. Usually in my unwillingness to wait for a moment in that place I end up taking longer to get to my destination. After doing this recently I was reminded that I do the same things in life. My unwillingness to wait and my anxiousness to have things settled take me the long way to the place I want to be. There are many things that we are waiting for...a job, a promotion, a spouse, restoration, healing, resolution, and on and on. It can be so tempting in our frustration with the slowness of the process to find ways to cut it short and take it into our own hands. We take a job that isn’t a good fit, we cheat our way to promotion, we date someone we know isn’t right, we give up on our dreams and relationships. It may work for a while but we have traded in something more for something less because we were not willing to wait. When we are willing to wait we find the fullness of that which we have been waiting for. We find that which is real and good and lasting because we were willing to wait for the real thing. Wait for it...it’s worth the wait.

“Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of Him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.”

Psalm 37:7 AMP

The Lord is always worth the wait. Yet, in the midst of waiting I can’t say that I always agree with His timing, but what I find later is that He moves at just the right time, in just the right way. Not only will it be worth the wait but He is a God worth waiting on. It just takes much patience. It’s so easy for me to look around and see people who have that which I want. Then I become quick to question God and His timing, wondering why I don’t have that thing that they have that I’ve been wanting and waiting and asking for, looking at all the reasons I deserve and desire that thing. Yet so often what I thought I wanted pales in comparison to what God has for me. As you are waiting for your dreams and desires wait foremost on the Lord. Lean yourself upon Him...He is always worth the wait.

Back to Front

“Sometimes the best way to move forward is to go back...back to the joy of why you first began.”

Loren Thornburg

We get lost. Lost in the work, lost in the motions, lost in the details, so lost that we forget why we even began. It’s that feeling when you enter a room knowing you came for a reason but unsure of why. When that happens to me I have to go back to the room I started in to remember why I went to the other room in the first place. Similarly we have to do that with our lives. We have to go back to where we started to know why we got started. Often our dreams are filled with many steps between starting and living it and it’s easy to get lost in the middle if we are not willing to go back to why we began. We have to bring the joy of that dream to the front of our minds and let that joy push us forward. For when joy is lost so is our strength to continue. Go back and let the joy that started you keep you going.

“The joy of the Lord is our strength”

Nehemiah 8:10

God is constantly calling us back. Back to Him! For He knows that in coming back to Him we will find all that we need. God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He knows we need the strength that comes in His joy. This strength is not so much our own being strong as it is a place of safety, refuge and protection. It is the joy of the Lord that brings us protection that allows us to be strengthened. This joy is different from just being happy but a deep, sustainable gladness that moves us to rejoicing, not changed by circumstances, but found within regardless of what happens. There are many reasons to be discouraged and dismayed yet only one that can bring us joy in the midst of these and that is the Lord. So it is by our Lord and our joy in Him that we find the place of strength to endure in the midst of hardship. Just as Nehemiah encouraged the people into joy so hear his words encouraging you. There is joy in the Lord and it gives great strength!

Present but Unseen

“There is more to the story than what you see, more to the picture than what appears, there is more going on than we know, look beyond, there is more.”

Loren Thornburg

Behind the scenes of a play there is so much going on. From set changes, to lights, to costumes, to direction; there are many people who are a big part in making the play happen that the audience never sees. Similarly is you look at the human body there is so much going on inside our bodies that we can’t see without the help of instruments and technology. Our bodies would not be what they are on the outside without all that is going on inside. We can’t see all that is really going on in our bodies, yet often in life we think that we do. We look at a situation and think we know all that is going on, we judge by appearance, or we get annoyed with people because of how they act. I’m sure we’ve all been on the receiving end of this thinking, ‘if they only knew what was really going on.’ Still there is more to our own stories than what we can see. People who have impacted and changed us in ways we haven’t seen, circumstances that have protected us in ways we didn’t know and thoughts and feelings that are shaping us in ways we aren’t aware of. Take time to look past what you’ve seen. You might find there is more to your story.

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him, but He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”

Job 23:8-10 ESV

There is always more to the story with God. Even in the devastations that Job faced God was present and working. So often in our lives we feel much like Job looking around seeing only hardship not perceiving God even in our looking for Him. Yet He is working and not just from a distance, but in our midst. Not only is He there, and not only is He working for our behalf, but He knows the way to lead us even without us seeing Him that will lead us to come out as gold. He knows how to turn our lives into shining stories. So if you are looking forward and you don’t see Him, looking backward and not perceiving Him, looking left and right and feeling He is not there know that He is working, know that He knows your way and your ways, and know that He shall bring you through and out as gold.

Too Important Not To

“Too important not to believe

Too important not to hope

Too important not to risk

Too important to miss

Love is.”

Loren Thornburg

You wouldn’t drive somewhere new without getting directions, or run without putting shoes on, or ride a bike without air in the tires. Those things are too important not to do. Yet why do we try to find joy in life without Love as our center? Sometimes I think we forget what is really too important not to do. The fear in our hearts and the things on our lists become more important than the people in our lives. Love really is the most important thing. It is too important to miss...but we do. We miss it through the other things that seem more important. Family is too important not to spend time with, friends are too important not to risk with, marriages are too important not to sacrifice on, relationships are too important not to believe in, and Love is too important not to hope in. Life is too important not to.

“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome.”

Ephesians 3:12 NLT

God gladly welcomes us! Not because we have it all together but because He loves us just as we are. Now this is a lot to try to wrap our minds around because this is not how our world works. It looks different, feels different and tells us different. Yet this is true...You are welcomed into God’s presence. He loves you and loves for you to be with Him and of that you can be sure. This truth is too important not to trust. In spite of anything that tells you otherwise, makes it hard to believe, or fears that keep you at a distance, it’s too important to miss. For it is in this truth, in this love, in this assuredness that we can Love others and invite them into this same Love that frees us, saves us, loves us. So now let us believe in His unbelievable love for us because it’s too important not to.

Glad to be Sad

“When we are sad we can be thankful, for we have had something in our lives with such meaning that it is worth being sad about.”
Loren Thornburg

Leaving is hard as is being left. I have been on both ends. Now I find myself on the leaving end as I get ready to leave for Colorado. There have been many goodbyes and tears of sadness. Although for many it is ‘see ya later’ there is also a grieving in the midst of change. I am reminded how hard it is to leave, but also at the same time so thankful that I have invested into and been invested into in ways that make it hard to leave. The sadness is a reminder of how meaningful my time here has been. And so although I am sad I am also glad that I have been given the opportunity to be a part of something that is worth being sad about. May you too in the midst of your sadness see the gladness. The reason for your sadness is that it has been that meaningful to you. So we can be glad that we have something so meaningful that it demands our sadness.

“For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but even then I will remain loyal to you.”

Isaiah 54:10

Isaiah 54 is all about the compassion of the Lord for those who mourn. This is not just a compassion that feels sorry for you but one that is seen. A compassion that leads our God to action. He is not just on the sidelines wishing things were different for us but He is with us, on our side, rebuilding our lives from the shame and grief that they were once known by into something beautiful. This is why we can trust Him when He says that in the midst of things falling apart He will remain loyal. He will be there with us making us into something new! So in the midst of our sadness we truly can find reason to be thankful for God is doing something new in us. Until we can see it we can trust Him, the loyal God, who is on our side.

First Things First

“Crawl before you walk; Walk before you run

First things must come first; Otherwise you’ll end up with none”

Loren Thornburg

As we watch college football and the high caliber athletes it’s hard to think that at one point they could only do the basics and that at times even with their advanced skills that they still go back to the basics. As a coach I see firsthand the importance of the fundamentals. The athletes I work with are constantly wanting to move on to more advanced skills such as throwing different kinds of pitches not understanding that it would do them no good to learn those skills without the foundational skills on which to build upon. I find I do the same thing in life wanting to be farther ahead missing the importance of where I’m at as a building block to where I’m going. Even at times in things I may be more advanced in there are times when I need to go back to the basics, to reinforce my foundation to make all that I have built upon even stronger. First things must come first.

“And a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you.””

Mark 1:11 NLT

Jesus, in all of His divinity, still was told of who He was by our Father. He was Loved and He belonged to Him as His Son. The Father was pleased with Him and this is where His ministry began. It began with this truth and went out from there. It was out of this truth that Jesus was able to go and do all the Father had planned for Him. This love came first for Jesus and must for us as well. Before we do we must first be. We must first know that we are loved, so loved by our Father, we are His child, we belong to Him and He is fully pleased with us for being nothing more than His. For out of not just knowing this, but being in this we can freely go and do all He has planned for us. It is in this security that we find the solution to many of our concerns. I find Him responding to most of my concerns with, “I love you” because it is in this truth that I find what I need to overcome. He longs to speak this to you too, so hear Him now...I love you and am fully pleased with you.

Navigating Life

“We all need help, we all need direction, we all need...and that’s okay.”

Loren Thornburg

The more I drive in this age of GPS (global positioning system) and Map Quest Directions the more I realize how helpful those things can be. I save so much time with the help of directions to guide my way and a GPS to navigate. It makes me wonder why we don’t do this more with our lives. Directions gives us by definition the “course that must be taken to reach a destination.” So why would we try to go it alone when we not only could benefit from help but we need help. Now this is not to neglect another important lessons when it comes to these navigational tools is that you have to think for yourself. That doesn’t mean do it all yourself but to factor the suggestions in with your own knowledge of what you know and what makes sense for you.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

John 14:26 ESV

Navigation is a process more than a thing. By definition it is the “process or activity of accurately ascertaining one’s position and planning one’s route.” We who have asked for Jesus have the best navigation system you could ever want or need. We have the Holy Spirit. He is the Ultimate GPS for He reroutes us when we are off track in life, recalculates how we can get back on track, and always leads us to the correct destination even when it doesn’t make sense. He can be trusted! He is our Helper, always present, always willing, always pointing us to the Father. Those are directions that I want to follow! I need only ask for the Spirit to help, pay attention to the way the Spirit is leading me, and follow where He is pointing me.