Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied,

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?

I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign

And Lord, You promised that if we believe

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,

And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want- But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fulness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save... (for a start),

But you'd not know the depth of the Beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for Thee.'

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true

But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me. 

And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT.'"

~Unknown

Mourning Into Dancing

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy," Psalm 30:11


Have you ever found a way to turn sadness into joy? It's tough, isn't it. The bible tells us that we do have a reason to rejoice, even in our sadness. But how do we do that?


1. Realizing suffering can be a good thing.
Back in the fall my mentor taught me that if we never suffered, we would have a reason to worry. (James 1: 1-2) This is because suffering makes us stronger and as we see in scripture, God allows his children to suffer so they can fulfill his great plan for their lives! 


2. Realizing you have people there for you.
God created the church not just so we could learn about Him, but so we could encourage one another and build each other up. The body of Christ wants to lift you up in your time of mourning. Go to fellow believers and open up about what is going on in your life and there will be much blessing.


3. Realizing Pray is your greatest weapon
Fighting times of sadness, depression, loneliness, hurt, betrayal, or loss can be almost near impossible without prayer. It is vital we go to God before anyone else. As one of my leaders in the church would say, "Go to the throne before the phone." Sharing your feelings with fellow Christians is important, but going to God first is most important. I find in the times I am most down, kneeling down to pray for at least five minutes, automatically lifts up my spirit and I find reason to rejoice in my King. He is so faithful to hear our prayers. (1 John 5: 14-15)


Remember, If you can rejoice in times of mourning, think of the great witness you could be! 

Show Me Your Glory

If I could just see a glimpse of the glory of my King. It seems like the earth is crying out, yearning for more. The end of the world was predicted to be May 21, and now it's predicted in 2012. But as believers we know we will not know the day or the hour for not only Christ or the angels in heaven know. Yet we long to be in the presence of our King for we are in the beginning of birth pains and those that are believers yearn to be with Christ.

"I long to look on the face of the One that I love. Long to stay in Your presence, where I BELONG."

His Glory With Us

Rowena R

I don't want to live 

If not for you, Oh God

May everything I do

Be a light of love burning for You

"For me, to live is Christ, to die is Gain." Philippians 1:21

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

A friend posted this video up on facebook last night and it really lifted me up. Many times we feel like we're falling in our faith, we can't measure up, or were disappointing God, but what does God really say? Check out this skit. :)

Save Me, O My God

"O Lord, how many are my foes! 

Many are rising against me; 

many are saying of my soul, 

there is no salvation for him in God.

But you, O Lord, are a shield

about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head."

Psalm 3: 1-3


You may not realize, but there is spiritual warfare raging all about us. Our King fights for us and shields us from our enemy. Glory be to Him!

HairstonM

Time is moving, and so is God's Spirit

Wow! I have not been keeping up with my blog as I should! So much has happened these past couple weeks that I would love to share with you all. I feel like I have not shared much about the girl behind these written words on a webpage. Well, now's the time. :)


First off, this girl does not have it all together and never will she. I will admit continually that I have so much to learn about myself and about my King. I write because I am inspired to seek after my God. I am inspired that He would show me more of His Character. I am no theologian, philosopher, or no writer for that matter. Just a girl who loves to write and loves Jesus!
........


I am officially graduating from High School in less than a month! Whoa! It's official. I received my first graduation gift, gave my Senior semonette today at a girls retreat, had my senior recognition service, and I'm now ordering my plane ticket to where I'm spending the next year of my life!  

Here I am, Lord send me!

.......

In less than two months I will be writing to you all from outside the U.S. I am excited for my new journey but I am also anxious of what God has in store for me on my mission field. I will be living in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a year, working with youth in a church congregation while starting my college studies online. For one, I have never been to Cabo and have little idea of what to expect. It seems I have jumped into the running stream of the Holy Spirit and He is taking me to a new place. But I am very excited. I have found so much love in the people I will be working with and I haven't even met most of them! I will make sure to give you all updates about my new journey ahead. 

........

Living by the Spirit can mean a lot of Spiritual Warfare. It seems like satan wants to make me as miserable as can be and wants to desperately crush God's plans for me. He is taking away a lot of my focus in one of the busiest seasons in my life, giving me feelings of low self-worth, loneliness, and sickness. My soon to be home in Cabo faces persecution and I realize the road ahead may not be easy, but there is greater power in He who lives in us than he who is in this world trying to wreak havoc on our hearts. I'm telling satan to flee and I am desperately guarding my heart against his attacks. 

........

On a better note, our God is proving himself faithful. I came back from a wonderful girls retreat with my church this weekend where I had the opportunity to love on middle school girls who were honestly inspirations of faith and blessed me tremendously. They lifted my spirit and it truly humbled me to hear stories of younger girls starting revivals in their middle schools by sharing the gospel of Christ! AMEN! There is so much beauty in that picture and it keeps me going in this time as I look forward even more to the opportunity to invest in the lives of younger students. 

......

Lastly, the girl behind this blog loves hearing how God is moving in your life! There is so much beauty in one's encounter with Christ and it inspires me to hear the stories of faith written on many blogs I follow. I also promise that in the coming weeks, I will work harder to post on my blog and share with you all of my encounter in God's word. It has really been my shield against satan's attacks. 

.......

What to expect in the coming months with my blog:

1. A large look into the Psalms of David

2. Updates of my journey to Cabo

3. A Giveaway!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have had one convicting week. A week teaching me that Life is not all about "me". A decision letter that was not an acceptance, and a time with my mother that was a great lesson of selflessness. Appropriately, mother's day falls today where I appreciate my mother's guidance in reminding me that my life is not about myself, and God's ways are surely greater my own.

In 1st Samuel we see Hannah's great faith as she prays for a son. She weeps and the Lord hears her cries, she fasts, and the Lord strengthens her faith. The bible says that in due time the Lord gave her a son and his name was Samuel, a high priest, prophet and judge who greatly feared the Lord and plays a large role in God's plan for the people of Israel. It's a beautiful story, because Hannah bears three more sons and two daughters. The Lord greatly blessed her faith and used her to raise a son that proclaimed the name of God. God blesses exceedingly more than we may ask for. We can have hope that when situations seem dire, God will bless us if we keep faith in His ways. His ways are surely greater than our ways.

"My heart exults in the Lord; 

my strength is exalted in the Lord. 

My mouth derides my enemies, 

because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is none holy like the Lord;

there is none besides you; 

there is no rock like our God."

1 Samuel 2:1-2 (Prayer of Hannah)