I sat on the park bench watching. Watching my husband chase our three year old up and down the ramps and slides. Watching our one year old climb up and down the slide. Watching older kids run past shouting and laughing. Watching the overcast sky fade from pale grey to dark gray.
The breeze was light, but just cool enough to feel that first hint of fall.
I looked around, feeling that warm-but-not-hot air and the ever-so-slightly-cool breeze winding around me. I had forgotten.
In the long, hot months of Florida summer, I had forgotten that another season would come. And I had forgotten how wonderful it is when it does.
I sat there silently marveling. Marveling that somehow I could forget that summer would be over and the heat would fade and we could go outside in the evening into the most perfect weather. Marveling that I could somehow forget that the heaviness of summer heat and humidity would be replaced by the lightness of a cool sunny day. Marveling that we are there already, at that point in the year where we can feel the season changing.
Heat to cool. Heavy to light. Summer to fall.
And I had forgotten.
But here we are. The first hints of the joy to come already showing up around me.
And I as I sat breathing in the cool, light air around me, I felt a whisper in my heart that I’ve come to learn as His voice.
”Don’t forget what’s coming.”
Don’t forget what’s coming.
This season of life has been so long. It’s felt like the summer, hot and smothering and heavy, and to be honest, I’ve found myself forgetting. Forgetting that the season will change. Forgetting that although God allows us to walk through the valley, He will also lead us beside still waters. He will also restore our souls.
"Don’t forget what’s coming,” He whispered.
And to be honest, I can barely remember what a season of freedom in certain areas of life feels like, because this season has been long. So very long.
But I know Whom I believe. Whether I remember what a change in season feels like or not, I will trust what He says.
This year, as our environmental season shifts around me, I have a whole new reason for hope. Hope that this season of the soul is shifting too.
I sat on the park bench watching. Watching my husband chase our three year old up and down the ramps and slides. Watching our one year old climb up and down the slide. Watching older kids run past shouting and laughing. Watching the overcast sky fade from pale grey to dark gray.
The breeze was light, but just cool enough to feel that first hint of fall.
I looked around, feeling that warm-but-not-hot air and the ever-so-slightly-cool breeze winding around me. I had forgotten.
In the long, hot months of Florida summer, I had forgotten that another season would come. And I had forgotten how wonderful it is when it does.
I sat there silently marveling. Marveling that somehow I could forget that summer would be over and the heat would fade and we could go outside in the evening into the most perfect weather. Marveling that I could somehow forget that the heaviness of summer heat and humidity would be replaced by the lightness of a cool sunny day. Marveling that we are there already, at that point in the year where we can feel the season changing.
Heat to cool. Heavy to light. Summer to fall.
And I had forgotten.
But here we are. The first hints of the joy to come already showing up around me.
And I as I sat breathing in the cool, light air around me, I felt a whisper in my heart that I’ve come to learn as His voice.
”Don’t forget what’s coming.”
Don’t forget what’s coming.
This season of life has been so long. It’s felt like the summer, hot and smothering and heavy, and to be honest, I’ve found myself forgetting. Forgetting that the season will change. Forgetting that although God allows us to walk through the valley, He will also lead us beside still waters. He will also restore our souls.
"Don’t forget what’s coming,” He whispered.
And to be honest, I can barely remember what a season of freedom in certain areas of life feels like, because this season has been long. So very long.
But I know Whom I believe. Whether I remember what a change in season feels like or not, I will trust what He says.
This year, as our environmental season shifts around me, I have a whole new reason for hope. Hope that this season of the soul is shifting too.
We’d felt a restlessness, a desire for change. So we prayed and sought direction and been frustrated and prayed some more until God pointed us in a new direction. And suddenly it felt like we were pointed in a new direction and then left to drift. We saw what could happen if this new direction didn’t work out and it was scary…And nothing happened. It didn’t seem like God was going to come through. Maybe we had heard wrong…
So we waited. And we felt crazy. And we looked unwise. And we were misunderstood, I’m sure.
And we doubted frequently. And we tried to head different directions. And we tried to plan ahead. And we tried to jump off the path God had laid before us. And we tried to “go” in any area we could while still technically waiting…
But God kept saying, “Wait”. So each time we tried to abandon ship or turn the rudder in a different direction, within a day or two we had to repent and tie our rudder back down to the course God had set for us. And simply wait…
And that was painful.
From our perspective, it looked like God was sending us straight into the rocks and to certain doom. But the more we prayed and tried different things, the more He confirmed the direction He had pointed us in…and the more sure we were that He was saying, “Wait.”
“We don’t have to know how it is going work out in order to obey God.” Pastor Daniel Williams
So we waited and prayed and waited and prayed and kept working hard at the things God had set before us.
Then, about a month ago, we began to sense God telling us to “go” in one area. But it was an area that seemed to move us toward those looming rocks even faster, instead of steering us away from them.
So we prayed hard. And we talked about it often. And we prayed together and on our own and reminded each other to pray and set a timeline.
ObeyFirst3
Then we began to tell people. Just a few. And we prayed that if this step really was what God wanted that He would allow the authority in our lives to support it.
A week later God opened one door we didn’t think was possible, and another that we didn’t know existed. It was as if He began to open up a path in the middle of the rocks just big enough for our ship to squeeze through.
And the first thought I had when the opportunities were presented was, “Why did I have so little faith?”
“Why did I doubt God’s provision when He said to wait?”“Why didn’t I jump faster when He said to go and it made no sense?”“Why do I struggle to believe God when He’s proven Himself over and over?”
I’m so thankful that we obeyed even when it didn’t make sense. And although there are more rocks ahead, my faith is stronger and I’m trusting that the path will open when we get there. He’s never let us crash before.
And whether God is telling you to “go” or telling you to “wait”, and no matter how crazy the direction He’s asking you to take…obey.
Because…“Obedience proceeds understanding.” Pastor Daniel Williams
We didn’t understand. And I know we won’t understand again in the future…maybe even the very near future, but I’m more afraid of being outside God’s will then I am of “crashing” while inside of His will.
We’d felt a restlessness, a desire for change. So we prayed and sought direction and been frustrated and prayed some more until God pointed us in a new direction. And suddenly it felt like we were pointed in a new direction and then left to drift. We saw what could happen if this new direction didn’t work out and it was scary…And nothing happened. It didn’t seem like God was going to come through. Maybe we had heard wrong…
So we waited. And we felt crazy. And we looked unwise. And we were misunderstood, I’m sure.
And we doubted frequently. And we tried to head different directions. And we tried to plan ahead. And we tried to jump off the path God had laid before us. And we tried to “go” in any area we could while still technically waiting…
But God kept saying, “Wait”. So each time we tried to abandon ship or turn the rudder in a different direction, within a day or two we had to repent and tie our rudder back down to the course God had set for us. And simply wait…
And that was painful.
From our perspective, it looked like God was sending us straight into the rocks and to certain doom. But the more we prayed and tried different things, the more He confirmed the direction He had pointed us in…and the more sure we were that He was saying, “Wait.”
“We don’t have to know how it is going work out in order to obey God.” Pastor Daniel Williams
So we waited and prayed and waited and prayed and kept working hard at the things God had set before us.
Then, about a month ago, we began to sense God telling us to “go” in one area. But it was an area that seemed to move us toward those looming rocks even faster, instead of steering us away from them.
So we prayed hard. And we talked about it often. And we prayed together and on our own and reminded each other to pray and set a timeline.
ObeyFirst3
Then we began to tell people. Just a few. And we prayed that if this step really was what God wanted that He would allow the authority in our lives to support it.
A week later God opened one door we didn’t think was possible, and another that we didn’t know existed. It was as if He began to open up a path in the middle of the rocks just big enough for our ship to squeeze through.
And the first thought I had when the opportunities were presented was, “Why did I have so little faith?”
“Why did I doubt God’s provision when He said to wait?”“Why didn’t I jump faster when He said to go and it made no sense?”“Why do I struggle to believe God when He’s proven Himself over and over?”
I’m so thankful that we obeyed even when it didn’t make sense. And although there are more rocks ahead, my faith is stronger and I’m trusting that the path will open when we get there. He’s never let us crash before.
And whether God is telling you to “go” or telling you to “wait”, and no matter how crazy the direction He’s asking you to take…obey.
Because…“Obedience proceeds understanding.” Pastor Daniel Williams
We didn’t understand. And I know we won’t understand again in the future…maybe even the very near future, but I’m more afraid of being outside God’s will then I am of “crashing” while inside of His will.
We’d felt a restlessness, a desire for change. So we prayed and sought direction and been frustrated and prayed some more until God pointed us in a new direction. And suddenly it felt like we were pointed in a new direction and then left to drift. We saw what could happen if this new direction didn’t work out and it was scary…And nothing happened. It didn’t seem like God was going to come through. Maybe we had heard wrong…
So we waited. And we felt crazy. And we looked unwise. And we were misunderstood, I’m sure.
And we doubted frequently. And we tried to head different directions. And we tried to plan ahead. And we tried to jump off the path God had laid before us. And we tried to “go” in any area we could while still technically waiting…
But God kept saying, “Wait”. So each time we tried to abandon ship or turn the rudder in a different direction, within a day or two we had to repent and tie our rudder back down to the course God had set for us. And simply wait…
And that was painful.
From our perspective, it looked like God was sending us straight into the rocks and to certain doom. But the more we prayed and tried different things, the more He confirmed the direction He had pointed us in…and the more sure we were that He was saying, “Wait.”
“We don’t have to know how it is going work out in order to obey God.” Pastor Daniel Williams
So we waited and prayed and waited and prayed and kept working hard at the things God had set before us.
Then, about a month ago, we began to sense God telling us to “go” in one area. But it was an area that seemed to move us toward those looming rocks even faster, instead of steering us away from them.
So we prayed hard. And we talked about it often. And we prayed together and on our own and reminded each other to pray and set a timeline.
ObeyFirst3
Then we began to tell people. Just a few. And we prayed that if this step really was what God wanted that He would allow the authority in our lives to support it.
A week later God opened one door we didn’t think was possible, and another that we didn’t know existed. It was as if He began to open up a path in the middle of the rocks just big enough for our ship to squeeze through.
And the first thought I had when the opportunities were presented was, “Why did I have so little faith?”
“Why did I doubt God’s provision when He said to wait?”“Why didn’t I jump faster when He said to go and it made no sense?”“Why do I struggle to believe God when He’s proven Himself over and over?”
I’m so thankful that we obeyed even when it didn’t make sense. And although there are more rocks ahead, my faith is stronger and I’m trusting that the path will open when we get there. He’s never let us crash before.
And whether God is telling you to “go” or telling you to “wait”, and no matter how crazy the direction He’s asking you to take…obey.
Because…“Obedience proceeds understanding.” Pastor Daniel Williams
We didn’t understand. And I know we won’t understand again in the future…maybe even the very near future, but I’m more afraid of being outside God’s will then I am of “crashing” while inside of His will.
