Waiting on the Lord

Psalm 37:34
Wait for the LORD and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land;

Waiting is difficult. I'm the go and do it now, type person. I feel like I've had nothing to do all week, and in that I time have really done nothing. I could have worked on my house, I could have made some new spreadsheets for the industry I'm in. I could have finished the bookcase I started a couple of months ago. I could have cleaned the garage. I could have reorganized the now very mess computer filing system, as we went from 2 computers to 1 and everything has been shuffled around in the last couple of months.

I've been reading in the Psalms, as I read through the Bible in a year. I admit, I'm a little behind in my schedule. I've enjoyed the Psalms. The heart cries of David and the other psalmists.

I spent the whole week waiting for an email or phone call, and few ever came. I feel like I'm at the edge of a new world, and the fog has not lifted on the new day, so I can see the horizon. I sit and wait, a new day is dawning, and as our pastor preached this morning, "God is good all the time, All the time God is good." I wait, I must leave it in His hands. I know that He has never abandoned me, I have never starved, I have always had what I needed. This time is no different, there are more family responsibilities, but "God is good all the time, All the time, God is good."

Prayer requests:
*Pray for wisdom and guidance, as I may look in a new direction for employment.
*Pray for a healthy mom and baby, who is due soon (May 3rd).

Praise:
*Our many friends and family who are encouraging and helping us.
*Sleep! I have been able to catch up on sleep.

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Train for Battle

Psalm 144:1
Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.

When I first stumbled across this verse, I thought, "Wow, cool verse!" Then I began to think more about it, and then I wondered what translation they had used, this is the NIV for those that like to keep track. I wanted to be sure that I had a solid translation, so I could understand it, and the context, why would David write it?

Are we trained? Have we allowed to God to train us? How do we do battle? How do we fight? We fight not with physical swords and shields (lots of fun to play with sharp pointy objects, check out the nearest Renaissance Faire), but we wrestle with powers and principalities that we cannot see.

It is a spiritual fight. Actually its easier than we think, but it's the toughest thing we'll ever do:

• It's easier than we think because the battle's already been won. The penalty has been paid by Jesus on the cross.
• It's the toughest thing we'll ever do, because we are so easily fooled into complacency by the enemy, lured into compliance with sin by our old nature.

What's this contrast, then and how does letting God train our fingers for battle? For me it is the gift of a sharp technical mind combined with a gift of writing (not world class like Solzhenitsyn), but hopefully improving. One of the things I set out to do about a year ago was to write a story for our daughter explaining the deeper truths of being a child of God. She is a full heir to the kingdom, because she has accepted Jesus as Savior. What the project became was a story, Princess Afeicta is Named an Heir, a renaissance princess (her alter-ego) is named an heir to the kingdom, even though she is a daughter. I've posted it to WordPress so you can access it, personalize it and print it out to read to your daughter(s).

What's your fingers trained to do?

Bruised, but not destroyed

Isaiah 42:3
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

Here I am sitting at my home computer, just a couple of days after being let go from where I worked. Actually as I work through the shock, I feel the gorilla is off my back. I don't know what tomorrow holds, or where I'll be working, but that's ok. God's taking care of us and doing a fine job.

* Thank you Lord that we have all the baby items in hand and paid for, before she comes.
* Thank the Lord that we have paid off 2 debts and if work is found, will pay off the third by June.
* Thank the Lord, that we can pay all the bills to the end of the month.
* Thank the Lord that our doctor's office gave us a 4 month supply of asthma medicine for Moriah ($400), and wrote out a prescription for 1 month as well.
* All the prescriptions and 3 doctor's visits were covered on the very last day of coverage.
* I can look forward to my weekend, with my girls(2 1/2 and one on the way).
* My wife is at a ladies retreat, and they are just loving her and lifting her up.
* I was able to back up any critical items on the laptop, to other media, so that we lost very little data.
* Already there are employment options opening up.
* Believers are rallying around us, and let us know they care.

The specter that has loomed from the end of last year has left. I was getting drained quickly, having been on the go, for far too long. Perhaps, I'll find some job that I like even better, helping people with their energy use. Perhaps, God will lead me out of this field altogether and into full time ministry.

I'm a blind man, led by the Lord, Himself. Waiting is hard, but He has only plans to prosper us. Prosper not to wealth and fame, but prosper in the faith. I rest in His love and grace. Tomorrow the blind steps of faith will come, and we'll set off on a new journey.

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Update 4/11/07

It's been a week. God has been good. I have had a couple of interviews. One might pan out to something.

Praises:
*Health Insurance is still in force, covered a doctor's visit and prescription.
*Generous friends have helped us along the way.
*Part time/Consultant work is something I can do immediately.

Prayer:
*We are going to try and maintain the health insurance through a COBRA until the baby is born, through some generous friends.
*Business sense to understand how to run a business of my own if this is one of the next steps.
*Return calls from other contacts I've left messages with.
*Waiting is hard.


Waiting upon the Lord is very hard for me, I'm a go do it kind of person.

Psalm 130:5-6
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning,

I know the path is dark, but the light will come in the morning and then we'll see clearly and know the way to take.

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