Waiting While He's Working

         While cleaning off the desk tonight, I found this note I wrote tucked away in an old notebook.  I didn’t have a date on it, but obviously wrote it before we adopted our five kiddos. Now that we are a family of seven I find the idol of control rearing it’s ugly head all too often.  I read these words and preached right to myself!  Thanking God tonight for the reminder that He is in control.  My job is to faithfully follow Him in obedience.  My prayer at the end of the note was indeed answered in a truly miraculous way!  Thank you Jesus for your amazing grace and unending mercy!

~ Waiting While He’s Working ~ Written sometime before we met our five beautiful children. . . 

            We may be waiting, but God is working, faithfully working out His perfect plan.  I’m learning that the purpose of a season of waiting is not idleness, but a sweet time of drawing near to God and learning to deeper experience the fullness of living in His presence.  But I question my effectiveness of gleaning all the blessings that God is offering me today, at this very moment.  Am I wandering around aimlessly or intentionally drawing near to God and trusting in His promises?  The choice is mine – wander aimlessly or intentionally follow.  I know the greater option – God’s promises, not my plans, but I have this secret obsession with planning!  God is gently showing me that this passion for planning is slowly starving the growth of my relationship with Him.  I’ve been enjoying Sarah Young’s devotional “Jesus Calling”.  Lately many of the entries address how excessive planning hinders our intimacy with God.  In the April 22 entry she writes, “When your mind spins with a multitude of thoughts, you can not hear my voice.  A mind preoccupied to planning pays homage to the idol of control”.  Definitely convicted by my planning leading to an idol of control! 

            I’m discovering a great release and peace as God teaches me these lessons.  I don’t have to plan and worry over every. single. detail. – whew, what a relief!! Proverbs 16:9 says it beautifully, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” The pressure is off! It’s not my job to figure it all out.  Our loving heavenly Father carefully orchestrates every detail according to His perfect will. 

            Many details are far different than what I would have composed for my life, but oh how sweet it is to know the peace and joy that comes with intentionally following the path God has marked for us.  We’re at the time in the adoption process where we are simply waiting for a phone call from our caseworker.  We have no idea when that will come, the children’s ages, whether it’s a girl or boy, whether it’s one child or a sibling group, and so on.  All of these unknowns go completely against my nature of obsessive planning!

            So we wait . . . but oh, how I pray that we don’t wander aimlessly, but draw even nearer to God, intentionally follow His path and faithfully trust in His promises.  We’re praying that God will answer our prayers for a family in a such a miraculous way, that all glory and praise will be His and that the saving grace of Jesus Christ would be made known to many.