Psalm 32:7-8 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you. (NASB)

I’ve been in prayer for a “fresh start” for a long time. I shared in an earlier post that the “start” I got wasn’t so fresh and not at all what I expected, as is often the case with God. However, even the unexpected can be answered prayer and I am grateful for the change.

It’s been a tough twelve months with all the life changes and I feel unsettled, like things are incomplete in some way. This new place I’m in is like a hiding place, a place of isolation sometimes. While I’m here I am doing what He’s given me to do, but I continue waiting.

Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. (NASB)

We all have a lot on our minds and sometimes miss something important until it’s repeated. Just like a teacher repeats important points that will be on the next quiz, our heavenly Father uses the same technique. He has repeated several things to me over these months and it not only gets my attention, it sustains me.

I was, and still am, seeking confirmation about retirement, a job change, perhaps going back to school for that Master of Fine Arts degree. What I get is the dreaded WAIT.  Not yes or no, but WAIT. When I’m in His word, the Lord constantly brings me to verses about waiting, patience, and trust. When I’m listening to trusted teachers, lately they have all taught on waiting and the growth that occurs in that process; this excruciating process. So, that’s what I’ll continue doing, as hard as it is sometimes. Those close to me don’t understand it. Why am I waiting? What am I waiting for?

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it. (NASB)

Waiting doesn’t mean sitting by the wayside looking for something to happen. It means committing your way to the Lord, working and preparing in active anticipation, delighting in what God IS doing. Allowing God to carry you when the labor is exhausting, that’s when we grow.

Romans 5:3-5 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. ⁴ And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. (TLB)

We have a Good Teacher in the Holy Spirit, Who guides us and builds us up in the waiting. He prepares us. He will instruct us in the way we should go. He won’t let us miss it.

When the distractions become too frequent or the noise too loud, He will find a way to get our attention.

End-

This is Five Minute Friday Link-Up. We write for five minutes using a specific one-word prompt and post. Visit FMF to see more posts from some amazing writers. The prompt this week is REPEAT.

This is the first post on my newly hosted blog and, I confess, it took way longer than five minutes. It’s a bit awkward and imperfect, but so am I. I didn’t want to wait any longer to get started on this leg of the journey. Thank you Fist Bump Media (https://fistbumpmedia.com/services/writers-bloggers/).

Photo by Bundo Kim on Unsplash

Another related post: “A Fresh Start” was posted on October 17, 2018