God Is In The Waiting

By Suzanne Linett

SOMETIMES THE HARDEST THING TO DO IS STILL THE BEST THING TO DO When everything is going great, how well do you hear God's voice? Chances are your focus is not on God but you, and the good things that are coming your way. But life is not that easy or predictable. We get hit with an unexpected, loss, a challenging circumstance. And we cry out for help. And God's voice is not always as clear as we'd like it to be. This book will be a faithful guide to help you open your ears and your heart to God's voice in those moments of quiet, those seasons of silence. God sometimes speaks the loudest not in the hustle and bustle of activity, but in the waiting. Walk with the author through her own experience with having to deal with difficulty and walk through the waiting. In the process discover that joy, peace, and comfort only His voice can bring! "ADONAI is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25). This book will breathe encouragement to you when you go through a hard time or when you struggle to see God at work in your circumstance. Here is there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HigherLife Publishing
• Release date: Apr 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781732637788

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have shalom. In the world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world! (John 16:33).

In 1981, when I realized that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah, my life was turned right-side up. I had been out of sync and felt like I didn’t fit into the society in which I was living. With newfound faith, I discovered that life in Messiah was, indeed, new, and that old patterns and ways of thinking no longer applied. Thirty-seven years have passed, and I am constantly amazed by the way my heavenly Father continues to guide me and show His love for me. John 16:33 has become real to me as I understand that each of us has our own struggles and difficulties, but each of us has the power in Messiah to be overcomers. This devotional was written as I was recovering from a fractured left femur (thighbone) and of necessity entered into a season of waiting upon the L-rd in ways I had not previously experienced. As I worked through this season, I began to write my thoughts on paper and realized that, while not everyone has fractured a bone, we all experience times of waiting on the L-rd, times in which the path is not as clear as we would like, and seasons in which our individual journeys become particularly difficult from a human perspective. Each person has experienced different types of waiting and for different reasons and seasons. Waiting can be excruciating, it can be tedious, and it can be fatiguing. That is, in our natural, human state it can be all of these things. However, it also can be a time of great spiritual discovery and growth, of faith-building and maturing. I pray that as you read this book, the King of Kings will show you that these lessons are applicable in many situations as we find Him in the waiting. It all began on April 17, 2018, when I fell.

Each person has experienced different types of waiting and for different reasons and seasons.

WEEK 1

When I appoint a set time, I Myself will judge uprightly (Psalm 75:3).

Stumble. Transport to the hospital. Pain! Waiting. The right orthopedist. Why is waiting so difficult? All I need to do is lie in wait. I lie on the gurney in the ER and wait for my turn for X-rays, for them to be read, then for the doctor to come and tell me what he will do. Hurry up and wait. Finally, he comes. Now I understand. It had to be this doctor, for this time, for this surgery. He entered the room in his scrubs and said, I was going to operate tonight, but now that I see you, and understand more, we will wait until tomorrow. I ask him why, and the response is so that the surgery will be done well, correctly, and with the goal of complete restoration of function. I have a form of dwarfism, and the single X-ray of one bone did not make that clear. Adult plates are too big, and pediatric plates won’t hold. A custom plate must be constructed and will be just right. The childhood story of The Three Bears becomes real. Just right is so much better than good enough. Done right and done well are so much better than done quickly. So, I wait. The L-rd will appoint the time; He will judge how things should go; He will determine who He will use. Each one of us has had times in which the quick answer was not the best one. I often ask the children with whom I work, Why do you never have time to do it right, but always have to make time to do it over? Waiting reveals His choices.

Do you ever struggle with understanding the reason for a delay? We live in a world of quick meals, instant responses, and our technology moves so quickly that we barely wait for people to respond or to give a response ourselves. Do you need to slow down and wait for Him?

WEEK 2

And not only that, but we also boast in suffering—knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Ruach ha-Kodesh who was given to us (Romans 5:3-5).

First blessing: I lay on the hospital bed, waiting for the surgery. It’s time. I’m almost there. The anesthesiologist comes to talk. After the usual discussion of medications and procedures, he stops. He asks, May I discuss something personal? You don’t have to, but I really want to talk to you about something. I wonder, what could that be, at this time, while I wait? He has a daughter with dwarfism. Different diagnosis, different kind. He wants her to be able to drive a car. His questions: How do I do it? Where do I get the equipment? Easy information to share. I wait and pull up the website on my phone. He copies the information. He is obviously happy to be able to help his daughter. I go in, have the surgery. Up to the room. As the L-rd blessed me, He permitted me to be a blessing. Isn’t that just like Him? Waiting shows connections.

Waiting shows connections.

Have you ever had a chance encounter with someone who you were able to help? Or with someone who provided you with an unexpected blessing. I call them divine appointments, meetings, and encounters that I did not arrange, nor could I have imagined. Think about times in your life when you met, or just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Someone once told me years ago that a coincidence is when G-d does something but chooses to remain anonymous. Coincidence? No, by waiting for the right doctor, I also met the right anesthesiologist.