Faithful Waiting

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1602. Today's Devo is called Faithful Waiting.

Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

W ell, welcome back, everybody. This is your host for the week, Gabby Kaladiude, and I'm so blessed that we have this incredible devotional that we can come together, open the word of God, dive into what the Lord is speaking to us. This is a great reminder that we're not just reading the words of a great poet. We're not just reading hymns from David. No, we are reading the very words of the Lord that He used by His Spirit through the writers of Scripture. He used those men to put on pen and paper these beautiful words that encourage us today. So let's take it. Let's take it seriously. These are not just quotes that we can put on our Pinterest or repost on our Instagram. No, this is the breath of God and the living word of God. And I'm so grateful for it. And I think this is especially important when we're in a season of waiting or delay. And I want to say this. I almost feel unqualified or disqualified to speak about this because I've maybe been through a small season of waiting, but the Lord's been very gracious to me that I've stepped into different seasons rather quickly. Um, I almost feel like I'm not prepared for the seasons that God is putting me into because things are so fast. I think there's two types of people. There's people that are waiting and they're constantly disappointed because it hasn't come. Or there's other people that feel almost burnt out because life moves so fast and you can't take a breath. And so if you're not careful, you can find discontentment in both of those lives when we just have to find contentment in the life and the will that God has given us. But I do want to speak to those that feel like they're in a waiting season, or maybe you are in a waiting season and you haven't quite gotten the thing that you're waiting on. And today's just a reminder for you that Isaiah 40, 31 says this but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, eagles, they will soar on wings like eagles, and they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint. This is your reminder today. As long as you continue to hope in the Lord, to hope in God while you are waiting, God's gonna renew your strength. And I think the hard thing is we see a renewal of strength in a different way. We see the renewal of strength as God gives us things that distract us, right? He gives us a bunch of friends that distract us from what we're waiting on. Or if you're waiting on a husband or waiting on a wife, you're dating all through the process, so you don't even realize you're waiting. But that's not renewing your strength. Renewing your strength is being able to wake up every day and say, God, thank you for waking me up today. You're still good and you're still faithful. Renewing your strength is the fact that you can get up today and go to work and build and connect with different people and bless different people. Renewing your strength means I can get up on Sundays and go and serve God's house and make God my partner and serve the kingdom of God and make him my focus. Renewing your strength just doesn't mean distractions where you don't realize you're in the waiting, but it's God being faithful in the midst of the waiting, where you can appreciate the big and the small things. You see, we have to be reminded that waiting isn't punishment, it's not denial, it's not a delay, but often it's a preparation because God is going to take you into something. I just think about it how long the Israelites waited in the desert, how long they just walked around, they they waited for the Lord to give them their next, but it's not like God never had a next. It's not that God never had a promised land, but God had to prepare and to remove and to develop a lot in the Israelites through that desert season to get them to the promised land. Because the worst part or the worst outcome would be if God gives us the blessing, but we never know how to appreciate it, steward it, or be grateful for it. God can give you the spouse, but we don't know how to take care of the spouse and take care of the marriage. God can give you the children, but you don't know how to appreciate it. You think it comes from you and you don't realize it comes from the Lord. See, the Israelites had to work out things in the desert. If they just waited and immediately walked into the promised land, they would have thought it was from their own gifting and strength, or they would have thought it was Moses that did it. But God used the waiting season in the desert season to prepare something in them. Please know that God does his deepest work in you while you're waiting for your next. God does a deep work in waiting. Sometimes, if you've never waited before, you can look at someone that has and you look at their life and you go, man, God did so much in them. I almost pray I go through a season like that. Why? Because you look at people that have gone through waiting and there's a depth, there's an understanding, there's a confidence that they have on the Lord that other people don't have. But it's because they had prayers that took a long time to be answered. They had desires that God needed to wait and give them time for them to receive. So just remember this waiting develops spiritual strength. And a delay is not denial, people say it all the time, but delays are not denial. Yes, your flight might be delayed, but with God, it doesn't get canceled. It's just delayed. And know this that God works in you while he works for you. He's doing a good work. We just need to wait on him. And if we hope in him, he will renew our strength. Let's pray. Lord, I just thank you for who you are. And I thank you, Lord, that even in the waiting season, you develop us, you strengthen us, you train us, Lord, for more. And I thank you that you never leave us nor forsake us, but God, you renew our strength daily. We thank you for it all, and we place our hope in you today. In Jesus' name, amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.