I hate hallways, but I'm learning to love them.

There’s a popular saying right now that used to irk me – “While you are waiting for God to open the door, praise Him in the hallway.” There is nothing wrong with the phrase.  In fact, the metaphor within it is clear and poignant.  The idea that we should praise God whatever our situation is one I’m sure most of us need to work on.  That is why the phrase irked me so.

Praising God in the hallway means praising Him while you are waiting on His leading to take you to a new place – either in faith, a new job, in relationships, etc.  My problem is I hate waiting.  I really hate waiting.  And I have a few situations in my life right now where I have been waiting “in the hallway” for a very long time (think years).  In the beginning, I was very happy to praise God in this hallway while I waited for his perfect will.  But as time has passed, my demeanor has changed from that of a patient daughter of Christ to more of a petulant three year old.  Lately, I’ve gotten tired of waiting, and that wonderful phrase above reminded me that my attitude was not where it needed to be.  My attitude had become sour; instead of praising Him, I was constantly asking “Why, Lord, can’t you fix this already?”

Thankfully, God is more patient with me than I with Him. He directed me to the book of Genesis and the story of Joseph, and to the following passage in particular:

“But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.”(Genesis 39: 21-23 CSB).

God had given Joseph a vision – a grand vision.  Joseph was going to be an important ruler.  However, at the time the above verses were written, Joseph was in prison – framed for a crime he did not commit.  This was just one of many of Joseph’s “hallways” while he waited for God to fulfill his destiny.  But Joseph did not display a bitter attitude as he sat wrongfully in prison. And because of this, God blessed Joseph during this time. God made everything Joseph did successful. God did not forget about Joseph, just like He does not forget about me. 

I’m still not a fan of waiting on the Lord to fulfill the promises He has given me, but I realize though I am waiting on His will, I am still blessed and being blessed every day. As Joseph has shown, it is OK to be successful while I “wait in the hallway”. And soon, I will be able to fulfill the vision God has given me and repeat the words of Psalms: “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” (Psalms 66:10-12 NIV).

 

 

Don't gripe away a blessing!

As I type this, I am reveling in the wonderful weather outside.  The day long rain has taken a short break, and it is a cool seventy degrees outside.  Did I mention that it's July and I'm in Oklahoma? Rain in July is a rarity in itself, but add a cool temperature and it becomes almost like heaven. Oklahoma has endured many summers (especially recently) when there was no rain to be found and temperatures stayed at or near triple digits for weeks on end.  After suffering an exceptional drought, this patch of cool, soaking rain is indeed a heavenly blessing.  It was the topic of many at church this morning.

Most who commented on the weather this morning were ecstatic. Phrases like "I'm luvin' this" and "my plants were sure thirsty" were commonplace; however there was one comment in particular that threw me for a loop.  As I was talking to a person about how great the cool rain was, said person sadly commented that now that the rain was here, a whole host of problems were bound to arise.  Noting my quizzical look, said person did maintain that the rain was good, but people would now have to be on guard for unskilled drivers on the roads when leaving church today. Said person just sighed fretfully and moved on. But I couldn't move on from that comment. I thought about the scorching drought and dangerous heat that has blanketed my state the previous two summers, about the crops that could never be harvested because they withered in the fields - unable to grow.  I thought about how this year would be different.  I wasn't worried about the unskilled driver on the roads, or the extra time it's going to take to maintain my lawn, or the fact that outdoor plans for the day would need to be rescheduled.  It rained and it was 70 degrees on July 14 in Oklahoma.  It's a blessing!  Blessings sometimes come with some work, but does that mean I'm going to gripe my way through it?

Let me pose the question again - do you ask God for blessing, for increase, for whatever, and then gripe when the very thing you asked for comes because it might inconvenience you or doesn't come the way you think it should? Or do you pray fervently for a blessing and once the blessing occurs, worry and get anxious about the blessing itself.  Do you pray for rain and then watch the rain come, but you can't enjoy it because you are worried about the rain getting your car wet?  If you really ponder this question, the truthful answer you give yourself might shock or humble you.  It did me.

When God blesses us, why do we worry about it/gripe about it? Why don't we just say "Thank you".  Do we feel unworthy to receive such blessing even though we asked God for it and the Bible promises it to us? Are we afraid that if we do receive God's blessing, we will endure an attack from the Enemy so we might as well not even be blessed in the first place? I'm not asking for an answer, but I will say that my own answers to some of these questions brought some of my own rotten thinking to light.  It's time to change how I view blessings.  They are not burdens.  If God blesses me, then he will also equip me with whatever is necessary to keep that blessing just that - a blessing, not a burden. And if God's blessing comes in a way that I didn't expect, I just have to remember what it says in Isaiah 55:8-9 that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." A blessing may not always look like it should in the short-term, but in the long-term, God knows what he is doing; by trusting Him with my life, I will get to reap the blessing he has for me.