Someone told me you can’t
get ahead of God, but I tell you, I did once, and got myself into all kinds of
problems that could have been avoided.
Wait means to tarry; to
expect; to look patiently.
You see, I had an experience
with God like I never had before. It was
my first, I call, supernatural experience.
I was reading an article in
a magazine about street children in
Mexico who were being cared for and feed by a man whose heart went out to
them. The presence of God came upon me
and I began to weep uncontrollably. He spoke to me, “You will be involved with
children like this.”
I set out from that day to
make it happen. I knew nothing about
waiting on God, and following Him.
I was a school crossing
guard at that time.
One day my Lieutenant came
to me, and told me he had recommended me for a job in the police
department. I would be working with
juveniles. I thought, “This is it. I’ll
will be working with troubled children”.
I was so happy. I had
found my place in the kingdom, or so I thought.
The plan at the police department, was to put the first women on the
force. They could go straight to the
individual divisions, without going into the uniform patrol.
I went for the evaluations,
and passed them all. Then they set me up
for a physical, by the City Doctor.
Unexpectedly, he found a problem in my abdomen, and sent me to the City
surgeon. Upon his examination, he found
a large mass. I failed the medical
exam. I was heart broken. My dreams of helping troubled youth had
crashed to the ground.
I asked if the job would be
still open after I had my surgery, and was told it would. I couldn’t wait, I flew trough a quick
recovery, and went back to get my job.
When I got there, they told me the procedure had changed for women
officers, I would first have to go in uniform patrol, and then later I could
apply for the other position. I was
crushed. What was going on? Had I missed God?
Well, to make a long story
short, God would wake me up at night, and say, ”No.” I didn’t understand. Here I was so close to my vision, and it was
God who was saying no.
My husband didn’t understand
me at all, and I’m not sure I did. All I
wanted to do was to find my place in God’s
kingdom, and follow Him.
My husband was delighted I
was in the Civil Service but he didn’t too much want me to go into uniform
patrol. I would be in danger.
The morning I was to go for
my strength and agility test, I put out a fleece. “God if you don’t want me to take this job,
don’t let my car start.
You see we had a new car,
and it was not probable that it wouldn’t start.
I put in the key, and to my
surprise, it wouldn’t hit-a-lick. I
called my husband, and then called in and said, I you have a job in parking
control I will take it. They did and I
did. Still, every night, the Lord would
wake me and say, “No”. My husband didn’t
understand, but I quit the job after five months of torment to my mind.
Later we began to go on
missionary trips; and guess where we went first? To an orphanage in the Dominican Republic,
where street boys are housed and fed and taught the Word of God.
We are still going there and
are supporting them each month through the ministry. My daughter also spent three and one half
years there as a missionary.
Our ways are
not His (God’s) ways, and our thoughts are not His thoughts.
Look at Isaiah 30:21 —- And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This
is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to
the left.
And Proverbs 3:5,6 —- Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and
lean not to thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct thy paths.
Where did I go wrong?
I got ahead of God. I tried
to make it happen.
Many women of God receive a
calling, and get so excited; they run with the calling before they get wisdom
from God in what direction He has planned for them.
James 1:5 —- If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
He wants us to seek Him
first, and then follow His leading.
Psalm 32:8 —- I will instruct thee and teach thee in the
way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
When a minister takes off quick without spending much time with the Lord alone, he can get off the track quick, and live out the mistakes he makes by trying to do it himself. Rest in the Lord, wait for Him to open those
doors, and then quietly go through them.
This is not always easy for
our generation that has fast food, quick service, and appliances that do
everything for us.
Don’t kick yourself if God
is pointing you out, just repent of trying to do it yourself, and fall in line
behind Him. He can take your mistakes
and turn them into good. It’s not as
though you were trying to do something
wrong from your heart. It’s just that
you didn’t wait on Him. You took the
lead.
The Holy Spirit is our Guide
—- John 16:13 —- Howbeit when He, the
Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not
speak of Himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall He speak: and He
will show you things to come.
The Holy Spirit can and does
come upon us and show us things in the future, but remember, it is the
future. If it were right now, He would
show us that too.
We just have to learn from
our mistakes and remember, His way is best for all concerned.
I Thessalonians 5:24 —- Faithful is He who calleth you, who also will do it.
When we abide in the vine we
can bear much fruit, but apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15)
We learn we can do nothing
without Him, and we are nothing without Him. But Phillippians 4:13 reads
—- I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me.
How does He strengthen
us? Through our time with Him, in our
Secret place. By going to Church,
fellowshipping with other Christians, and Christian books and Christian media.
When we spend time seeking
Him, we will find Him.
He hasn’t left us, we just
get too busy.
When a pastor or minister
has a moral failure, it can be traced back most of the time, to his or her lack
of personal time with the Lord.
I have seen this
happen.
Sometimes they get so
popular, they think they are above sinning.
Even if you don’t seem to
have time, woman of God, make time. He
is waiting to give you direction, to comfort you and give you that peace that
passes all understanding. Every voice
you hear is not God.
Every direction is not God.
He is only a prayer away, as
the old saying goes, and those who miss their time in prayer miss the strongholds
being pulled down around them, and their family, and ministry.
We have to grow-up in the
Lord and we can be victorious every time.
Our enemy will put obstacles
in our path, but through Christ, and when we abide or live in Him he makes us
wiser than our enemies.
