When I was little boy, “Wait until your birthday…” and “Wait until Christmas…” were two phrases that I routinely heard from my mother.  They absolutely drove me crazy.  Wait?  Who likes to wait?  As I wrote last week, waiting on God is one of the most challenging aspects of the development of our faith.  You may be waiting on God right now.  You may have no idea what to do.  You may have no clue as to what’s next.  In times of waiting, no matter how difficult it might be, I suggest that you follow the advice in Matthew 7:7 and actively seek God.  Don’t just sit back and take a passive approach to hearing direction for your next steps.  Work at it.
 
Working at hearing from God is not easy.  You must be doggedly persistent in your prayer life (ask).  You must relentlessly pursue specific direction and allow nothing to distract you from diligently, expectantly awaiting that direction (seek).  You must absolutely believe with every fiber in your being that it will come and that, when it does, it will lead to something so crazy good that it will be far more worthy of all your waiting and work than you could have ever imagined.

And oh yeah, one more thing…As you wait, keep doing what God last called you to do (knock).  You must continue to do what you know God last told you to do until He tells you to move on.

Back in May, when I preached on Luke 5, I talked about how God is more concerned about the process through which He’s taking us than He is about the destination.  Slow down and try to enjoy the journey or process through which God is taking you rather than focusing on some destination that you have in mind.  Waiting is tough.  It isn’t fun.  It is necessary, though.  Hang in there!  Your waiting is almost over, and just around the corner is a new, fresh, awesome chapter of your life.

• Lonnie Riley did an awesome job preaching at Crosspoint yesterday.  You can listen to him HERE.
• Yesterday was my first Sunday ever away from Crosspoint, and I was so homesick!  I missed you guys like crazy.  I love Crosspoint!
• I preached two morning services at Paintsville First Baptist Church yesterday…Just getting ready for when we have to go to two services!
• I love my iPhone.  I used it to watch a video sermon between my times of preaching yesterday…It was great! 
• So yesterday I preached two sermons, watched one sermon on my iPhone, and listened to two more as I was driving…Hey, the pastor has to be fed too!
• I attended First Baptist Church, Pikeville last night to see my friend, Brian Woofter, be ordained.  He’s an awesome worship leader!
• I’m pumped about the kickoff of “Fearless” this coming Sunday.  It’s gonna be awesome!
• Crosspointers, I really believe God is going to do some amazing things this fall.  Keep praying and believing Ephesians 3:20!
• I picked up my guitar and played some this weekend…My fingers still hurt.
• By the way, whoever mailed me the Barnes and Noble gift cards, THANK YOU!!!  I love books!
• OK…I’m off to study.

Do you like waiting?  Waiting in traffic?  Waiting in lines?  Waiting to hear back from the job for which you applied or the school you so badly want to attend?  I’m a little on the ADD side of life, so waiting is especially tough for me.  I find myself constantly feeling as though I have absolutely no time to wait or as though waiting is just going to mess everything up.  I’m sure many of you can relate.  Often times, though, God desires that we do just that…wait.  While we may not out right verbalize it, during these times we may frequently find ourselves thinking that we know what’s best for our lives and that, as a result, we really have no need to wait on God.  What we need to realize, though, is that God matures and grows our faith while we’re waiting.  We must realize that He has a purpose for our times of waiting; He uses them to help conform us into the image of Jesus.  While unarguably very difficult, we must believe that this process of becoming Christ-like is far more important than any of our own short-term destinations for which we just can’t seem to wait.  How many of you would say that it’s easier to walk by sight than it is by faith?  I’m gonna go out on a limb here and take a wild guess…All of you?  Of course!  It’s easier to walk by sight because we can see what’s happening and make our own decisions accordingly.  Walking by faith, on the other hand, requires us to say, “God, I can’t see what’s going on or what’s taking place.  However, I will trust you and wait patiently for you to show me what step to take next.”  That’s tough!  What I’ve learned through the years with my walk with Jesus and absolutely, truly come to believe, though, is that He knows what’s best for me and that His plans for my life far exceed anything I can dream up.  Charles Spurgeon said it best, “When you can’t trace God’s hand, you can always trust His heart.”