Waiting for the Promise

When I picked up my Bible this morning I did that thing where you kind of just open it up to a page and read whatever.  It always reminds me of the OLD Dr. Doolittle where they close their eyes, pick a place, and go.  "I'll just read...here."  If it makes the scenario any better, I totally prayed before reading that God would bless my time with Him.  

Know what I read?  About the birth of Isaac.

Huh.

I have to tell you, that was not an inspiring passage for me.  I walked away knowing I spent my time well because I spent it in the Word, but not remarkably inspired.

Great.  Isaac was born.  Sarah and Abraham were really old.  Yup.  Great story.

Then it occurred to me that little Ryan read the same story yesterday in his little Adventure Story Bible.  Coincidence?  Probably not.  So...how could this possibly relate to me?

I know what you're thinking: "Duh.  It relates because you're almost an obstetrical dinosaur and you're still popping out babies."  True, but not the point...I don't think.

Since I felt the calling (see this blog post for more info) I've been waiting for God to send me.

     "Okay God.  Here I am.  Send me."

     "No really God.  I'm seriously here.  I'm ready.  Whatcha got for me?"

     "Ahem.  For real.  Right here.  Ready."

I've antsy like a toddler bouncing around on a vinyl bench backseat back in the 80's.  "Aaaaaare we there yet?!"

But I thought about this story today, and I think I hear what God's trying to tell me: "No you're not ready, silly girl.  Sit down, stop yer yapping, listen to me, and I'll tell you when we get there."

Oh.  My bad.

Here's where I'm coming from....

I've always been pretty hard on Abraham and Sarah.  He makes her tell everyone she's his sister (half-truth = lie) and they both question God's promise every five seconds so she's throwing her servant at him and then blaming him when her servant hates her. It's really not a pretty picture.

But today I looked at it through different eyes. 

Sometimes it is HARD to wait on God.  Really hard.  And sometimes we want God's will for us to come more quickly than it is...so we try to force it.

I felt "the call" (still weird for me to say) almost a year ago.  The first time we see God promise Abram (Abraham) that he will bless his descendants is in chapter 12 of Genesis.  Abram was 75. He promises again in chapter 13, and makes his covenant in chapter 15.  Isaac is finally born in chapter 21.  

After God's promise Abraham waited about a quarter of a century for his son, and I've waited almost a year.  Who's Captain Impatient now, Alissa Shea?  

*sigh* Yup.  That's me.

I feel like God is going to use me in a very public way at some point...through writing, speaking, non-profit organization, or possibly a combination of some or all of those.  I'm just not there yet, and I might have to wait a long time to get there.  

Until I DO get there, I think God's trying to tell me not to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.  His plan for me is designed perfectly, and I'll only cause a lot of trouble and pain for myself if I try to force things to happen before He's ready.  Abraham and Sarah learned that the hard way.

However, that doesn't mean I'm off the hook for ministering.

Our theme song for VBS this week said:

It's a big, big world and we're living in God's backyard.

Yes, we're gonna do all that we can.  Get ready, let's go.

Get on your feet, and look for new opportunities to serve your friends and family

right where you are.

That last line is kind of the kicker.  Right where you are.  Right where I am.

God wants me to minister to people where I am now...physically and spiritually.  He wants me to minister through my blog, my words, and my life.  He wants me to share who I am now with people.  He's working on me, and that will be the case until the day I die and get perfected in Heaven, but until then, whether I'm ministering to 2 people or 20,000, he wants me to touch those I come in contact with.

God has big plans for me, and today that means ministering here...serving my husband, teaching my children, loving my friends, helping at church, and maybe even writing here on my blog.

Sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me. :)