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Stephanie J Thompson

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Waiting for the Right time

December 9, 2014 by Stephanie Leave a Comment

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I love the connection between those whose lives are revealed in scripture and those of us walking the Earth  today. Although I’ve read the ancient stories many times, the narratives of certain characters pop out at me during certain times in my life.

  Their humanity-the raw, imperfect, struggle for control, connects with me. 

As does their desire to believe in the promises of a God who chooses to be in relationship with them.  A God who has repeatedly demonstrated unwavering loyalty, ultimate wisdom, unconquerable power. 
 
And yet, like them, I find myself on the precipice of choosing to trust in my God or myself.

  Lately, I’ve found Abraham and Sarah as my walking partners in this season of life.  No, I am not pregnant, nor have I heard the voice of God telling me I should be. (I cannot even imagine that news at 90!) However, like Sarah, I have goals that I desire to be fulfilled. In the near future.  These goals are not what I would consider selfish goals. They are based on desires that I believe God has placed on my heart. Things like more speaking engagements, more time to blog, publish a book.  But, like Sarah, my vision for when those “dreams” become reality do not always line up with God’s timing.

Waiting is not my strongest trait.  I can be a little bit like Veruca Salt in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, when she sings in her whiny voice…”I want it now!”

 

Sarah had a bit of Veruca in her as well.  Who can really blame her? She has been told that her desires for a child will be fulfilled. Finally. After 60+ years of waiting. Can you imagine the joy she felt?  For a woman in that time, being barren meant social stigma, financial uncertainty, and a dream left unfulfilled.  At 90 years old, God tells her it’s gonna happen!  But then it didn’t. And it didn’t. And….it didn’t.  So….maybe…. she and Abraham needed to help God fulfill the plan?  After all, God couldn’t really make a 90 year old woman fertile. Right?  Hmmm… 
 
In their “I want it now” moment, Sarah and Abraham complicated what God had intended. Hagar, Sarah’s slave, is drawn into the plan. The result was, indeed, a baby.  A beautiful creation of God. But, he was not God’s intention. Not the right time. Although, God blessed Hagar and her son Ishmael, Sarah and Abraham’s relationship suffered complications as a result of their forced plan. Eventually, at the right time, God fulfilled the promise of a child through Isaac.  At the right time.

And there’s the rub.  From a human perspective, “at the right time”is a challenging phrase.  Especially, if you feel God has put
a burden on your heart.
A passion in your daily rhythm.
A vision for your future. 
Like, Sarah, you want that dream, that promise, to be birthed now. Your heart beats at the thought of that new job, new home, different season in life, a child.  Like Sarah, I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’ve also come to realize why certain events in my life didn’t happen when I thought they should.  And, despite my frustration, even grief, over the lack of fruition of my wishes, I am thankful.  Thankful for a God who tells me, 

8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9) NLT


And so I wait. Hope. Anticipate.

Knowing that the answer may be different than expected.  
But, it will still be good.

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When my first child was born 20 plus years ago, I envisioned taking just a few years off from my role as Pastor of Youth and Family. While that didn’t exactly unfold as expected, God used my gifts and skills in other ways. Read More…

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s2thomp

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"This moment for Jesus is a far cry from the one o "This moment for Jesus is a far cry from the one on the mountain. There, he stood with his two closest friends- Peter and John. There, God’s presence was affirmed in the bright cloud which appeared overhead. There, God’s voice proclaimed publicly, ““This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

Now, God’s presence does not appear in such a tangible form. God’s voice is silent. No public affirmation of his identity. No reminder that he is God’s beloved." Read the rest: www.stephaniejthompson.com

#goodfriday #stephaniejthompson
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Get “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Mark 14:36-39.

He arrived at this moment baring his vulnerability. The implications of his possible next steps weighed heavily upon him. All of his being: mind, body, spirit. Divine yet human. Sitting in emotions does not equal sin. Crying out to his father demonstrated trust even in this dark moment. It witnesses to the intimacy of their relationship. God can hold us in all spaces and places.

The question Jesus asks sits with us because we have all been there. As Tish Harrison Warren writes in Prayer of the Night, “We don’t get to choose our preferred crosses or resurrections.” Embracing life in the Kingdom Jesus ushered in transforms us. Like Jesus promised, it is an abundant life. But not without it’s sorrows. Because the identity of being Theotokoi (God Bearers) means laying down our lives as daily rhythms.

 So we demonstrate, by transparently living our moments, the tension of living in this place of in between. But sometimes, the reality of the tension overwhelms our senses. We cry out in our anguished humanity for the cup to pass from our hands in the midst of fear, and uncertainty about the path forward.: Illness, loss, advocating for the marginalized, death.

But we can also cling to the hope in God who hears us, holds us, and sees the redemption at work in ways we cannot. All while entering into our moments of despair with a love that knows no bounds of time, space, expectation. Jesus took the cup. And we can because he did.

#Redbud writer #gardenofgethsemane #maundythursday #trustingod #stephaniejthompson
#stopasianhate #stephaniejthompson #webelongtoeach #stopasianhate #stephaniejthompson #webelongtoeachother #
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s2thomp

Instagram post 17913282691674085 Instagram post 17913282691674085
"This moment for Jesus is a far cry from the one o "This moment for Jesus is a far cry from the one on the mountain. There, he stood with his two closest friends- Peter and John. There, God’s presence was affirmed in the bright cloud which appeared overhead. There, God’s voice proclaimed publicly, ““This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

Now, God’s presence does not appear in such a tangible form. God’s voice is silent. No public affirmation of his identity. No reminder that he is God’s beloved." Read the rest: www.stephaniejthompson.com

#goodfriday #stephaniejthompson
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Get “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Mark 14:36-39.

He arrived at this moment baring his vulnerability. The implications of his possible next steps weighed heavily upon him. All of his being: mind, body, spirit. Divine yet human. Sitting in emotions does not equal sin. Crying out to his father demonstrated trust even in this dark moment. It witnesses to the intimacy of their relationship. God can hold us in all spaces and places.

The question Jesus asks sits with us because we have all been there. As Tish Harrison Warren writes in Prayer of the Night, “We don’t get to choose our preferred crosses or resurrections.” Embracing life in the Kingdom Jesus ushered in transforms us. Like Jesus promised, it is an abundant life. But not without it’s sorrows. Because the identity of being Theotokoi (God Bearers) means laying down our lives as daily rhythms.

 So we demonstrate, by transparently living our moments, the tension of living in this place of in between. But sometimes, the reality of the tension overwhelms our senses. We cry out in our anguished humanity for the cup to pass from our hands in the midst of fear, and uncertainty about the path forward.: Illness, loss, advocating for the marginalized, death.

But we can also cling to the hope in God who hears us, holds us, and sees the redemption at work in ways we cannot. All while entering into our moments of despair with a love that knows no bounds of time, space, expectation. Jesus took the cup. And we can because he did.

#Redbud writer #gardenofgethsemane #maundythursday #trustingod #stephaniejthompson
#stopasianhate #stephaniejthompson #webelongtoeach #stopasianhate #stephaniejthompson #webelongtoeachother #
Load More... Follow on Instagram

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  • Advent
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