The Time Has Come

Your best friend just called you and told you she has a million dollars somewhere. She is hiding somewhere in your town, and as soon as you find her, you can have the money. What do you do? I'm going to assume that you're like me and begin running around town. In your mind, you run through the list of every place your friend could be, going first to the most likely location.

To most of us, this seems like a no brainer. If all it takes to win such a prize is finding your best friend, why not?

But guess what!

There's a far better prize out there! All it takes to receive the prize is searching. In everyday life, God is the best friend calling out to you. When we seek Him, He promises amazing things. He promises that all the things we would otherwise be seeking such as a car, a relationship, money, or whatever else you can think of will be given to us. Then He promises that we'll find Him! (I'd say that's way better than a million dollars!) Plus, we get to do something for Him in the process. We allow Him to spend time with us. Then, when we're done, and we go out into our world, we are so full of Him that we bring other people into His kingdom! Is that cool or what? Then why don't we all search for Him?

I know that in my life, time is a big issue. I have so much going on all the time. I'm either in class, doing homework, doing something with Chi Alpha (when I'm at school, otherwise church fills that time), or running around with friends, with an occasional chore thrown in the mix. Another problem I tend to face is exhaustion. With my busy schedule, by the time I get back to my room and don't have homework, all I want to do is watch a movie or chat on Facebook. Or, even better, sleep!

However, as my first year of college has passed by, I have realized something. That stuff is not important. First of all, spending time with God is way better. Second, just like He promised, I have time for my busy schedule and relaxation when I find Him. Third, and most importantly, God should always come first. Even if what you're doing is something He wants you to do, if it takes His place as first priority in your life, if everything else revolves around that work and not Him, it's just not going to work. Even if you think it's His work, if He's not part of your life, He's not part of the work either. It would be so much more effective if you just included Him in the planning and execution.

So, although I'm going to be in class in 20 minutes, guess what. I'm going to be making sure I include God. (After all, He did tell me which majors to pursue.) I'm going to seek Him.

Why don't you join me? Why don't you seek God and let Him put everything else in order? And while you're at it, lead other people to Him by following Him yourself.

While I Wait

We've all been there. We're stuck waiting in a long line that seems to never end. Most of us spend the time tapping our foot, complaining, rolling our eyes, you name it. Sometimes, waiting even becomes so unbearable that we push forward to the front of the line, cutting off other people. I'm not gonna lie. Unless I have a friend in line to distract me with more meaningful conversation, I do it too. It just seems to be a part of the whole waiting process.

But picture this. You're waiting in line. You have things to do. You have in line with you the necessary means to do everything you need to get done right away. (Remember, this is just a picture, but with modern technology, it's probably extremely possible.) And instead of doing what most people in this extremely long line are doing, you wait patiently - even though what waits at the end of the line seems better than the things you can get done in line, even though it would be so much easier to just start complaining and trying to rush things that just can't be rushed.

Okay, so if you're like me, you are totally thinking, "Yeah right!" Sometimes (alright, most times), it isn't easy to wait patiently, even if you can find a way to be productive or have fun while you're waiting.

However, that is exactly what God asks us to do. He's totally cool with us looking forward to what He has in store for us, but He doesn't want it to become distracting. He wants us to enjoy what He has given us now and complete the tasks He has for us at this moment.

I'm one of those people that just doesn't like to wait. And when I do decide to wait I'm always trying to rush things. If I'm not imagining and planning out my entire future (which I should know by now won't be how it turns out anyway) then I'm doing whatever is in my power to execute those dreams and plans - on most days. On the very good days, I remember that God is in control and let Him take care of it (by praying and asking Him to hurry up and get me to what He has planned).

I had a rough day a few weeks back when I was seriously doubting God's plans. To me, it seemed like every time I said, "Alright, God, here's my dreams. You really do have control. Work them out the way You want," the things that I thought His plans include fall apart. That day was probably the only day I have ever blamed God for something that seemed to go wrong in my life, and once I realized that's what I was doing, I knew there was a problem.

Thankfully, my answer was prayer (which turned out to be the correct option as usual). God reminded me of a song from one of my favorite movies - "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. For it being one of my favorite parts of that movie, it sure took a long time for me to figure out what is being said in the lyrics of that song. As I listened to the song on YouTube, I realized what God means when He asks us to wait.

I used to think waiting meant not trying to run ahead in line. I thought I could be as impatient as I wanted as long as I didn't try to make things happen faster than God's plan. Now, I know otherwise. To God, waiting on His timing means doing what He wants me to do now. When God tells me to wait, what He's really saying is, "Serve me in this season of your life. Worship me for what I have given you now." His plan is step-by-step. Until we follow His most recent direction, He won't show us the next part of the map.

So, that day of doubt turned into one of my greatest moments of trust. I decided to really let God be in control. Instead of trying to figure out His plans before He wants me to, I'm going to complete today's tasks. I'm going to reach out to people like never before. I don't want to miss any of today's opportunities. I don't want to put off my fairy tale ending by trying to rush it instead of taking it one step at a time. If it's given me peace in one area of my life, I think it's time to apply it to every area.

Now, back to the picture I created earlier of someone waiting in line. Are you going to be someone who tries to force your end result to come sooner than it is supposed to? Are you going to be the one who waits but does so in a way that you get nothing done and aren't really ready for the end result? Or are you going to be the one who waits patiently? If I were you, I'd go with running your race the way God has planned for you. Know beyond all shadow of a doubt that He has things figured out. Move ahead at an obedient pace, and serve Him while you're at it.