This time of year is a great time to be reminded of the blessing of waiting.  We don’t think of waiting as a blessing, because most of us want it and want it now, but waiting is actually a good thing.  One of my most special memories as a boy was going to my Grandma’s and looking through the Sears and J.C. Penny Catalogs and thinking about what I might get for Christmas.  I would draw circles around that things that I was hoping that Santa would bring and I would always get the same advice:  “You will just have to wait and see!”  I can honestly tell you, that I was never disappointed.  Looking back, I did not get everything that I circled, not even close, but I always got something special and many times, it was better than what I had circled.

While we don’t like to wait, wait is exactly what we need to do a lot of times, because it is in the waiting that our Creator is able to do some work on and in us that needs to be done.  When we learn to wait on our Creator, we learn to direct our attention and live in hopeful anticipation of what can be.  This grows our faith, which allows all kinds of amazing things to happen in and through our lives.

Waiting helps me to get better at trusting, not just with a part of me, but with every ounce of my being.  I don’t have to figure everything out.  I don’t always have to have the answer.  I was designed to wait and in the wait is when my design begins to function miraculously.

Our Creator has promised that when we wait on Him, He will renew our strength – enabling us to live above our circumstances, empowered by His blessed hope and encouraged by His continual presence.  My waiting shows my dependence and my willingness to do His will above my own, showing that I trust Him above any and everything else.

So, what is your big hurry?  Take some time to enjoy the wait, because the waiting allows us to enjoy Him and helps us to live blessed!

There are times in our lives, when we would love to be able to look into and see the future, but it is really a good thing that we cannot, because our seeing into the future may actually cause more harm than good.  We need to be willing to go wherever our Creator may allow life to lead with the knowledge that wherever life takes us, He is already there.

When we accept the view that wherever life takes me, my Creator is already there, then we do not have anything to fear.  In fact we can walk wholeheartedly straight into whatever lies ahead knowing that our Creator will use even the bad for our good, as we love and trust Him.  Our confidence comes not from our knowing what lies ahead, but our knowing that He knows what lies ahead.

Some of the greatest blessings that you will ever experience are just around the corner.  You cannot see them, but they are there, waiting for you to take the steps of faith that will bring you into relationship with one another.  In order for you to claim those future blessings, you have to learn to “walk by faith and not by sight.”

This means trusting in the One that you can’t see to take care of what you can’t see.  The good news is that His hands are always present, wherever we may find ourselves.  With one hand, He gives comfort and support and with the other He directs and guides our steps.

You have amazing opportunities for joy in front of you, but you have got to start taking those steps of faith forward into His will and ways.  Give yourself totally and completely to the path that He has marked out for you and you will experience a glory that cannot be described with words and without doubt, you will live blessed!

Everyday I talk with people that are living through some of the most difficult times of the life.  One thing that life has taught me, is that almost none of us like trials, especially when we are in the middle of one.  But trials are not bad in and of themselves, unless we make the choice for them to be.  Trials can hinder us or help us, the choice is ours.

Next time you find yourself facing a trial, look at the trial as an opportunity to look to and trust in a higher power.  See the trial as an exercise that can develop your faith and grow it into a strong muscle that can work miracles.  We live in a time when man is having to face and fight some of the most fierce battles that we have ever been engaged in.

The enemy wants you to be paralyzed in fear.  If the enemy can keep you from moving forward, then he can keep you from the growth that you were created for.  Instead of allowing yourself to be immobilized by fear, take the opportunity to grow in your faith by trusting in the One Who created you and live blessed!

The Scriptures teach that if we will resist the devil, then he must flee (run away) from us.  We don’t need to be afraid of him, he needs to be afraid of us, because we are the ones that have unlimited power that flows from within.  Next time you find yourself in the midst of a trial, afraid and uncertain of which way to turn, turn toward your Creator and enjoy the warmth of His smile.

There is no condemnation for those that are in Him.  You have been judged by the only One that matters and through Grace, He has found you not guilty today and for all eternity.