I have a desire to make some changes in my life. I have been thinking about them, getting council for them, praying, talking, and searching out ways to make them happen. This has been going on for a few months. And nothing has changed. Not any of the things that I want to see changed anyway. Mostly I am waiting and trusting God for the change. Sometimes it feels like nothing is going to change, that there is no way things can be different. In some ways, I feel trapped.
Scripture gives us accounts of people throughout history that have been trapped.
The Israelite’s, God’s chosen people, were trapped in slavery. They had been for over 400 years. Think about that. Hebrew families had been slaves of the Egyptians for as long as they could remember. In fact, they didn’t know anything different, but their heart knew it was not right. They desperately wanted a way out, but none seemed possible. And none was possible for 400 years. The time was not right. Finally, they were released from slavery and sent on the now famous journey through the wilderness with Moses. Oh the joy and excitement! At least at first. But then they came to the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army was quickly coming upon them to capture them, and the Red Sea had them trapped with no way through. They were certainly panicked. Wishing they had never left. At least they were alive as slaves, but now they faced a certain violent death of their entire family at the hands of their captors. Just place yourself inside their heads for a second, there by the shore, a million or more people, trapped by the water in front of them, and horses and chariots racing toward them. Fear. Trapped. Hopeless.
But God made a way through for them! You will recall that He sent a strong east wind to blow all night, that cut a path through the sea, and the people were able to cross on dry land! Then God released the waters, and destroyed the enemies of the Israelite’s, and God Himself. Exodus 14.
Then there’s Rahab the prostitute. She was living with her family in Jericho, a city about to be overtaken by the Israelite army. She knew that The Lord had “given the land” to the Israelites. That her city, her family and her life were all about to be taken from her. She was in grave danger. But she had also heard of all the Lord had done for the Israelite’s at the Red Sea, and she knew how He had helped them conquer the two Ammorite kings at the Jordan River. She had real fear! She knew, apart from the Lord, that her family would be massacred when the Israelite army got to Jericho. She was trapped with no way out, and no where to go. Then the spies came to town, and God provided a way for her to help them in Joshua 2. Then a little later in, Joshua 6:17, we see that God did indeed, make a way for her.
And yet, another event of God’s faithfulness is found in Acts 16:16-40. Paul and Silas are in prison, for preaching the Good News about Jesus. Prisons were not nice places in those days. Their feet were shackled to a wall, with no food, water, sunlight or way of escape. A very strong and dedicated jailer kept guard over them. Yet, they trusted God. So much so, that they are found singing praises to Him at midnight! Those imprisoned with them could hear, as could the jailer. Their hope was in God to deliver them, there was no other possible way out. And then it happened! At midnight, God sent such a strong earthquake, that the foundation of the prison was shaken, and the doors to their cell flew open! God made a way for them. (They didn’t run away, they stayed so that God would be praised for His miraculous ways. They did get out of prison though…..go read and see!)
And now there’s me, and probably you too. Waiting for something to change. Is it a job? A marriage? A friendship? A health issue? A move you want to make?
For me, it’s easy to relax through the stories in scripture.
- mostly because, it’s not me in the story ( I am not personally affected)
- also because, I know the ending (that story is finished)
It’s not always so easy to relax through the story of my own life, because it is me in this story, and this story is still being written. I do not have the benefit of knowing how it will end. But that, my friend, is faith.
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” Hebrew 11:1
So, I wait. I wait for God to make a way through for me. Scripture (and my own life experiences with my faith) show me that, when the time is right, He will indeed make a way for me. His plan, His timing, His purpose. My ways are not His ways. Isaiah 55:8-9.
If you are trusting God for something right now, keep it up. Waiting is not fun, it seems long. But the Lord will make a way, when the time is right. His time. He will not let you down, trust Him. He will make a way through!
Pursuing Purpose 