I’ve given myself plenty of deadlines in the past, hoping that with the addition of prayer and being a good girl that I would get exactly what I wanted.
I remember saying that I would be married by the tinder age of twenty-two. I even had an entire Tumblr following (about 20,000 or so people) following my wedding Tumblr. It is still filled with images of what I thought would be mine years ago.
I’ve since learned that just because I want something in a certain time frame doesn’t mean that God is just going to instantly agree because I prayed really hard about it.
It reminds me of a time when I had four potential people excited to sign leases at the community that I work for. They had expressed interest, were very excited and told me that they planned to sign up. I followed up for weeks and could not figure out why they hadn’t signed yet. I remember thinking of how great it would be to finally get them signed and have them added to our group of residents ASAP.
There always seemed to be something stopping them from signing their leases. “Oh we’re really busy with school.” “I have to get my dad to take a look at everything.” “Yes, we are still interested in signing, but maybe sometime next week.”
I was beginning to think that they wouldn’t sign and that my efforts to showcase why our community is the best community were being thwarted. I continued to diligently follow up, but inwardly my enthusiasm had dwindled.
Fast forward a few more weeks and all four people were ready to sign their leases. Not only that, but they were finally ready to sign during a time where my bonus for signing leases had doubled. My co-workers and I were being incentivized for signing as many people as possible and the four leases that I had been working on were all ready to go!
I was really excited to say the least. Now imagine if I had gotten exactly what I wanted weeks ago. Sure I would have had a few more leases, but I would not have been able to reap the benefits of the incentives that were going on later.
It makes me wonder how many times we’ve thought that God has given up on us, or has ignored our requests in prayer? How many times have we grown impatient and sabotaged the great plans that he had lined up for a later time in our lives?
I know for a fact that had I known they would sign during a time when incentives were crazy, I would have been on cloud nine during that waiting period. But since I didn’t know, I was given the opportunity to continue following up with them and make the best of the situation.
I’ve decided that I don’t want to look up one day and realize that I’ve complained and mumbled and grumbled through every transition that God has set up in my life.
God has shown me on countless occasions that though a situation may not look like it is for me, things tend to turn out for my good. I want to place an emphasis on things not looking like they’re going my way. Sometimes we will experience a level of extreme doubt in our life and we have to confidently be able to say that it is well with our soul. In spite of what things make look like I know that God is working things out for my good because I love him and have been called according to his purpose for me. (Romans 8:28)
I’ve had to remind myself of this, though it is always tucked away in my heart. I know that my love for God is real and he will provide for every single need that I have. (2 Corinthians 9:8) And even some of my wants, too!
So be encouraged and stay encouraged! Things may not look like they’re going your way, and they may not be, but Gods plans for us are always so much better and often involve bringing us closer to him in the long run!
Love you!
Amber
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