Hello From The Other Side...

What do we do on the other side of big, monsterous events in our lives?  Events of our highest highs and our lowest lows? Those times where we FINALLY achieve a hard earned goal, or those times where we are shocked with circumstances unforeseen, like we all were with last week's national tragedies. 

Hello from the other side....this is where I am.  

I shared last week that I passed my CSCS test, but I didn't share that the week I took it had some terrible circumstances that were actually far more important to me than my test. 

I'm talking about crazy things happening-- like the news of a murder suicide occurring next door the the home we own in San Diego (and are renting out) and other frustrating events like relationship flare ups and disagreements.  Unsure if a resolution was in site.   

Have you ever noticed how the closer you are to a great achievement, the more "life" (a.k.a the devil) seems to try to get in your way and test you?  

Somehow I made up my mind I was going to ignore the temptation to allow the devil use it as an excuse to delay plan of taking the test and more importantly, delay my purpose.  

I buckled down and wholly and completely depended on God to help me study and focus.  It was touch and go there for several days.  But He showed me time and time again that He was with me, even having more than one friend reach out to say I was on their mind, not knowing at all I was struggling.  

By His grace I took that test, I passed that test, and the rest of my life gracefully sorted itself out.  He does amazing things when we trust that He will and allow Him to take control.  This is the art of SURREND’her.  

Whew, crossed that bridge!  

EXCEPT, then there was last week.  We all saw the unspeakable tragedy unfolding….yet again.  It rocks us every time.    We cry out to God, we shake our heads in disbelief and shed some tears for those we know were taken too soon. We are angry and we seek justice. 

And now as a nation, we have found ourselves, once again, on the other side of tragedy.   

 

So, hello, from the other side... again.  

Whether you achieved a high of goal achievement or a lows of tragedy, you come out on the other side emotionally exhausted and... changed.    

If you have been here before, you might recognize the feelings of confusion in your soul.  For me, I feel like EVERYTHING in my life has shifted as I have crossed a great bridge.  And YET, in so many ways, NOTHING has changed either.    

I am caught wondering what you may be wondering, “Well, what do I do now?"  I'm tempted to just go back to how I operated before it all...

But, this week, I came across a scripture I’ve seen before, but it had new meaning to me.  I think it can help you too, if you allow it.   

Isaiah 40:31
 ^"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

LET’S LOOK AT 3 THINGS THE VERSE TELLS US THAT WILL HELP YOU TO  FROM THE OTHER SIDE: 

1.  IT TELLS US SPECIFIC ACTION TO TAKE: 

Does this confuse you?  Yes, I called this passage an ACTION PLAN and yet, this verse very clearly uses one word that I don’t think any human being likes to hear:  “WAIT."

But it doesn’t stop there….  it says “Wait on the LORD” which is not inaction, but just the opposite.

Another term you could insert into this context is to SEEK the Lord.   Or perhaps another tough word, OBEY.  

So, this is NOT time you just spend twiddling your thumbs or waiting on the door to ring and it be the hand delivered news of what you are supposed to do.

No, this is time you spend in His word and in prayer so you have Guidance and *clarity* beyond what your emotions want you to do.

2.  IT TELLS US WHY GOD WANTS US TO WAIT ON HIM:

The purpose of us seeking God and waiting on His guidance is not because God wants to drive us crazy and is playing some kind of game with us.  
 
It’s because He sees how emotionally exhausted we are from whatever we just endured.   He is preparing us to win THE WAR and what you’ve just endured was but one battle.  
 
It's also a test to see if we really TRUST Him.  We’ve all seen that hasty moves that are made under distressed and emotionally exhausted mindsets rarely bring wise decisions.   

To our human mind, we think this emotion is supposed to fuel us into action.  And in some ways, it is true--emotion is our human fuel.  

But emotion that goes untested by God’s Word might make us more of the problem than the solution.  

Thinking that our depth of emotion somehow makes us able to play the role of God is not only foolish but idolatrous.  This is the trouble we are seeing in the world after the tragedy last week.  People are taking justice into their own hands—essentially trying to play god.  It will never end well.  

3. THIS VERSE TELLS US THE OUTCOME OF THIS ACTION PLAN: 

When we seek God and delay action until His way is apparent, it not only relieves us from the burden of trying to fix it all ourselves, but it also provides us the sustenance  to ENJOY LIFE through it all too.   

"Mount up on wings like eagles” sounds like a life of delight to me.  A way to soar above the fray and rise above your circumstances.  

There are more goals to be won.  There are more battles the devil is going to wage in our mind and circumstance. 

I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear, but it’s also the truth.  

This may take a while.  Your purpose; our nations peace; the process of mourning....all of it.  

But when we wait on God and seek Him diligently everyday, "we shall run and not grow weary, we shall walk and not faint.”   We must keep going.  

And the most beautiful part of what God does for us when we seek Him are His gifts of peace and joy and hope and love THROUGH the journey, not just when it’s over and fixed.  He gives us these gifts daily, no matter our circumstances.  

We all want these every day.  But are you seeking God to receive them, or are you seeking others, your government or even yourself to achieve them?  

Are you waiting on the Lord?  Or is the Lord waiting on you?