I can't WAIT!

Hello everybody! We are back at it again with another installment of encouragement that the Lord has given to me! I want to thank all of you who read and share my blogs it means the world to me! I really do pray for each and everyone of you that God continues to bring you insight and even more peace. I wanted to let you know that YOU ARE OK! Life has a way of causing us to freak out in our minds but, YOU have the power to put GOD back in control of your situation.

ALRIGHT, now that I got that out of the way let’s get into it!

For most of my adolescent life, I had a basketball in my hand. I spent hours on end perfecting my most prized possession… the game of basketball!

I played AAU year round trying to become the best ball player that I could be. I remember practicing all Summer long just so I could play for my high school’s varsity team! I couldn’t wait to play amongst the best of the best and I knew all I needed was one opportunity, one moment, to show everyone what I had.

My sophomore year finally came around and it was my first time playing with the varsity team. I can remember my high school mind spinning like a top wondering when I would have the opportunity to go into the game. After a few possessions, I finally heard my name and I jumped up with great anticipation, ready to lay my life down on the floor. For a moment, the world stood still and everything flowed like poetry.

We had finally come to the third quarter and my post was shooting a free throw. I had already determined in my mind that I was going grab the rebound if she missed! I timed the exact moment I would jump into the air because I knew that this possession would be ours! As my fingers touched the ball, my opponent took my feet from underneath me and I no longer gained stability. I watched as the ball danced away from my fingers and I heard a pop in my left knee that would take me out for the rest of the game.

I tore my ACL that night.

Hebrews 10:36 says, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.”

Most of us have been preparing for a moment or an opportunity to show what we are made of and we can’t wait to receive an answer to a prayer we’ve been asking the Lord for. We have the faith that if we get this particularly thing that life will look different and be better for us.

I remember sitting in the orthopedic office waiting for the verdict on when I would get to play again. Need I remind you, I had no idea what an ACL tear was and there was no way you were going to get me to google it either! I sat there clammy hands, beating heart, hoping and praying it was a two-week process. I remember how the orthopedic surgeon walked into that cold room, holding my x-rays in one hand and what seemed to be no sign of disappointment on his face. He pulled up my pictures and explained to my Father and I what just took place in my body. I, then, asked him how long it would take for me to play again? He painfully said, “6 MONTHS.”

My head began to ring with confusion. My heart started to ache and I wept unapologetically that day. There were no words to describe my grief.

Some of us have received an ACL tear in our lives and what we desperately wanted, in turn, required us to get surgery. The recovery took longer than the arrival of the opportunity. When the moment presented itself we couldn’t wait to experience it, but then, it backfired on us. We prepare. We wait. We study. We do all we can do to get it and then when we get what we want, we get tested in the very thing we so desperately desired.

I fell in the love with the game of basketball and it controlled my mood. I had become so familiar with it that when I lost it, I thought I lost my identity. I wrestled with God for six months and more wondering why He took the very thing that He gave me away.

I don’t know what you feel like gives you purpose, but I am here to tell you that if you are waiting on a moment to shift your view on your life, you will miss out on true joy and peace. The moment will come and eventually disappoint us! 

I had to learn, while I was waiting to play again, who I really was. I had to ask myself, “Is God still good even though I am about to get surgery and go into recovery? Is God still good even if what I want doesn’t come or go my way? Will I still trust God despite what I am waiting on? Where does my identity truly lie?”

One thing I have discovered is that our hearts desire things more than we desire the Lord. When the things that we are waiting on sit in higher precedents above Jesus, that is when problems arise! We can’t wait at times because most of the time our agenda doesn’t match the Lord’s agenda. We fail to realize that soon the earth will pass away. What we desire will soon be gone just as quickly as we asked for it. So if we wait on His purpose(the Word of God), it will be a wait worth waiting for. Waiting is sooooooo hard, but when we know that the Lord is WHO we are waiting on, it changes our perspective.

Jeremiah 29:11, in a more paraphrased version, says that our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. Patient endurance is what we need now so we can WAIT and build a relationship with the Lord to become still. We don’t want to rush and/or miss what the Lord has for us.

Say this prayer with me.

Lord, we will wait on YOU. You are all we need! We know our identity is found in You. We know where our hope and peace is found. We will wait on YOU, though we are waiting on other things, allow us to focus our attention on You. Help us to trust Your timing. If we have to go through surgery and recover just to bring somebody to You, then so be it! Our lives are in YOUR hands and we trust You to fill us up. In Jesus name, Amen.

Love you all, but God loves you more.