Standing Under the Weight of Waiting

Are you in a season of waiting? Or as I know it now to be a season of preparation and transformation. Ever asked yourself or more to the point asked God what is this waiting all about? Can We Talk?! 

When God has us in a season of waiting don't let Satan fool you. Something is happening. God is faithful to complete the work He began in us. Besides the work God is doing to work out the situation for our good, God is also busy at work...working in and on us. Remember the story of Joseph. 

Often, manifestation of the promise is secondary to the work God needs to do in us. Secondary to our spiritual maturity and growth. If God gave us gifts and blessings that we were not spiritually ready to receive we would most likely squander them. Take heart, there is good news in the waiting.

Some promises that we are waiting on the Lord to fulfill will not manifest until we prepare and transform. If we are fighting the preparation and the transformation process, we are prolonging our waiting season and delaying our blessings. As we wait, God will change us and our perspective about the situation. He may even shift our priorities and our needs. Have you ever waited on hold on a telephone call for so long that you forgot who you called? God can also do that in your season of waiting. He can, if we surrender our will to His make the experience of waiting so peaceful that we forget about the waiting and the waiting becomes secondary to the time we spend with Him growing and changing. We might even find that what we so desperately WANTED God to do we no longer NEED God to do. Can I get an "Amen" for unanswered prayers?

Don't be discouraged, but you have to hear this...sometimes we may have to wait on the Lord' s promises to manifest for a long long time. I have been in a season of preparation for 5 years now. I have to admit that the first couple of years were tense and anxious times. I did not want to wait. I wanted God to fulfill the promise He spoke to me. I focused on the waiting which made the waiting miserable. God is productive in our waiting process and we should be productive as well. This revelation makes new seasons of waiting more bearable and more constructive.

What are you DOING while you wait? Just think...God may be preparing that husband or wife, moving obstacles out of your way, raising up ministry partners, creating that job or preparing the hearts and minds of those you might be called to minister to or lead. Are you ready to receive any of these? There is good news in the waiting folks!

Now I wait in still attentiveness for the Lord's will for my life.  I know that He knows what is best for me and He has my best interest in His heart. Yours too is in His heart beloved! As I wait God is developing my patience, humility, and my character. He is deepening my dependence on Him. I really don't think about the waiting like I used to unless someone talks about their own waiting, which is what inspired this blog. Otherwise, I am content in my season, knowing full well that God can and will come through. When He is ready and when I am ready. In the meantime, I am busy doing what He called me to do and preparing to receive the promise.

So we wait in still attentiveness for the Lord to fulfill His promise to us and in us. Be. Still. Know.

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!  

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Exercise and Injury...What Can I Do?

God Day Conquerors!  

Are you staying true to the health, wellness, fitness, and spiritual goals you set at the beginning of 2011? It's Springtime! Many folks have abandoned their new year's resolutions, but not you! It is time for new beginnings. Even if you have fallen off the goals you set, now is the time to start again. Our God is a second, third, fourth....chance God. It is also time to declutter our homes, lives, and minds. What an awesome time to invite the Lord into our hearts and into our lives for some intimate conversation and strategic planning!

I encourage you to give away 10 items in your home during your spring cleaning! You will be relieved and someone else will be blessed. Make sure it is really nice stuff. I got these cool sneakers from a dear friend when she completed her closet spring cleaning. Let us not be consumed by the romance of stuff. We can't take it with us! HEAVEN is already furnished! Praises to God!

Have you submitted your plans to the Lord? Can We Talk?! The Word tells us to give the Lord our plans and we will see those plans come to fruition (Proverbs 16:3). Now that doesn't mean we make the plans and give them to God as the final version. God is not in the business of blessing our mess! That means we submit a VERY ROUGH draft of our plans to God and He has the final say about the execution of those plans. The Message says "Put God in charge of your work, then what you've planned will take place.” Once God is in charge of our plans we can't fail, because He can't fail! Amen?!

Today's question comes from a community member who is out of state. Please pray for “T” in your prayer time. Injury and pain are major limiting factors for exercise for many people. We should always seek the advice of a doctor before starting any exercise regime, particularly when preexisting pain, injury, and health concerns are present.

Dear Aqua

My weight issue is weighing me down. I am so afraid of exercise because of the pain I have every day of my life. I just don't want anymore of it. I have a total knee replacement, bi-lateral bulging disk in L4 and L5 with bone spires and a second rotator cuff surgery that they could not repair all the way. I know that I look at what I cannot do instead of what I can, but what can I really do? God is so able to do above and beyond what we ask or think, I am just tired of asking. Love T

Dear T

There are exercises that you can do. You may have to modify them to make sure that you don't further injure yourself. I am not sure where you are in your rehabilitation process, but some exercise and rehab may help with the pain that you are experiencing. Always check with your doctor about what limitations you should adhere to so that you do not exacerbate your injury. In fact ask the doctor is there a person, place or organization that he/she can recommend that can help. You may be able to walk and may be able to do seated exercises. I heard the other day that "Walking is still the undisputed king of exercise".

Because of your limitations with EXPENDING energy it is going to be important for you to monitor your energy CONSUMPTION. In short, it is going critical for you to monitor WHAT and HOW MUCH you eat. We can give you encouragement and support virtually, but I do recommend that you find some help in your community for nutrition and exercise programs to meet the needs that you have. Call community centers and local churches to see if they offer low to no cost exercise programs. A good program will have a trainer who understands and is able to work with people with injuries.

Don't let your injuries keep you from seeking help. In fact those injuries should be the fuel that cause you to knock on every door and leave no stone unturned. God's desire is not that you live in pain. He wants you to prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers. Seek His will for a healthier life and lifestyle. Don't get tired of asking! God is an ever present help in the time of trouble. We will be praying for you. In fact, right now we speak healing and deliverance in your body in the name of Jesus! Stay in touch with us about your progress. 

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!

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Be Still AND Know-Guest blogger~Josh Copeland

I have been thinking about having guest bloggers on my blog for about a month or so. My purpose is to encourage my readers, share some useful and practical information, and provide other perspectives of how God lives, moves, and breathes in our everyday lives. I read this piece (originally posted on FB) and thought it would be great for the first spot. If you want to guest on my blog, send me an email at chosenaqua@gmail.com. The guest blogger is Joshua Copeland in the picture below with his aunt, Cheryl. Enjoy!

Some of you may or may not know that I have been led to leave Houston to attend college in San Marcos next fall. I was led to this decision after asking God what I was supposed to do with my life because it did not seem like I was headed in the right direction. Not too long after my petition was made it was answered in the form of a phone call from a friend. He was excited about finding his purpose in life after he had been looking for so long. After I mentioned how it was “weird” that he called me with that news I explained my concern about my own direction. His said that what really helped him was prayer and lots of it.

So I prayed for the next step and the Lord reminded me of how He told me through His small still voice that I was to be Christian rapper about 7 years ago. He also reminded me that I was very passionate about owning my own studio, producing and recording artists. I attempted to go to school for this but my “young and dumb” outlook on life didn’t allow me to pursue the education with my whole heart. Now God was showing me that it was time to pursue my passion again but this time with His glory in mind instead of my own.

After researching the best school for recording that offered a Bachelor’s degree, I was drawn to Texas State University because it was the only school in the southwest to offer such a degree. My thoughts were a bit excited because I like the hill country but reality also struck. I will be three hours from home which means I will have to live there which means I need a job there! You can imagine the amount of uncertainty I had when I began to realize these obstacles and what it would take for me to get over them. This was on a Thursday.

So I kept my mouth shut about this because I was so unsure. I figured I would wait until church on Sunday and maybe the pastor’s words would encourage me to take the right step. When Sunday arrived the pastor preached a great sermon but nothing really jumped out at me so after church I was still uncertain. So as I go around to shake hands and kiss babies afterwards I go to shake a friend’s hand. As I say hello I notice that he has a strange look on his face. He then explains “God told me to tell you something.”

“Oh man” I think to myself.

He goes on, “He told me tell you that whatever he led you to do you need to do it.”

My eyes bug out of my head and I began to step away from him. “No way man you’re kidding me!”

Waving me back “No, No brother come here you gotta listen to this”

I walk back sheepishly “Ok lay it on me”

“ He said that this is your time to do what He said to do. You have no wife, no kids holding you back. Don’t play it safe just do what He told you to do and don’t look back.”

I thanked him and walked away completely blown away.

I’ve always noticed that the Lord doesn’t always speak through other people to get to me but when He does He is trying to drive a point home. Does this mean that I got the point right away? Not at all. As this process continues to build I have had more and more obstacles come along that have only increased my doubt and uncertainty. What drove me to write this today is that I have had the job issue on my mind for the past couple of days and every time I do I hear the words “Be still and know that I am God”.

I knew I had heard this in scripture before but I had to use help from my mom and biblegateway.com to find the actual scripture…

“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalm 46:10

After some research of this scripture there are some key things to pick up. If you read the whole 46th Psalm then you will actually see that this is a reprimand to nations who are warring against God. This threw me off at first because I was trying to understand what this had to do with me worrying about a job. Some of you may already see the problem. Worrying is a very toxic habit to have. Worry is the absolute opposite of having faith in God. It is where our minds war against God and his promises when we don’t understand His way.

His solution to our worry is to be still. Now be still doesn’t mean I need to sit in my room and not move until I have the right job. I think another translation of this scripture helps to understand this better…

Our God says, "Calm down,
and learn that I am God!
All nations on earth will honor me."

Another translation says we need to desist and know that He is God which is the opposite of insist. SO God is trying to tell us today that we have to STOP insisting on thinking we know what’s best for us. STOP insisting on worrying about every little detail and thing we don’t know the answer to. In place of this we have to KNOW that He is God. This kind of knowing means to recognize and to understand God. Recognize Him as leader of our lives. Recognize Him as the solution to our problems. Recognize Him as the supplier of ALL of our needs. Understand that He loves you. Understand that He will never leave you or forsake you. Understand that He knows what is best.

It can look very simple on paper but its only by prayer and faith in Christ that we can put this into practice.