CHAT G.O.D 10.09.24

”Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.”

-Psalm 27:14

How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you would really like to have an immediate, audible or beautifully written answer from God on what you need to do? Because then you'd know exactly what to do, what to say and how to navigate certain situations.

I can't tell you how often I use ChatGPT for my Real Estate business. I can type in some random information and ChatGPT somehow takes in what I've requested and within SECONDS, provides me an answer. May not be the exact answer I was  truly looking for or wanting, but I get an answer nonetheless.

Sometimes we tend to treat our requests to God like He is some ChatGPT, cosmic genie in a bottle just waiting to answer us as soon as we call on Him. Fortunately, God sees the bigger picture and sees all the things that we cannot. He sees how it may hurt us if He answers how WE want him to. He sees that our hearts & minds may not be prepared and ready for how He is going to answer us. But God alwaysanswers us, it just may not always be the way we want or expect.

Do you ever wonder why it is that God makes us wait for His answers? In today's Bible verse, it tells us to wait…not once, but TWICE. He commands us to be strong and for our hearts to be courageous. Biblically speaking, the word courageous refers to “good cheer" which means boldness and confidence. He's telling us in this verse to be bold & confident in our waiting. (I don't know about you, but boldly & confidently waiting hasn't always been my strong suit!) Confident that He is weaving together the most beautiful answer for us. Bold, because He is a caring God and cares about the things we desire. He doesn't want us to pray and then just sit idly by worrying & waiting.  

In a more recent personal journey, I believe God made me wait because if He were to answer me on my time, I wouldn't have been mentally or financially prepared for the way He was about to answer my prayer. Before things came to fruition, it just seemed that every door I knocked on was bolted shut and every opportunity that looked promising, failed. Nothing was working out how I thought it should. I was beginning to feel defeated, lost and angry. Then God came in quickly & swiftly and my life changed in a single phone call. All for His greater good and I could not be more thankful for how He was orchestrating my life in ways I couldn't even fathom. So always know & trust that God is working in ways you may never know or understand until He's ready for you to relish in His magnificent answer. 

REFLECT

What are some things in your life that you have been waiting to hear from God on? Pray over them again, boldly & wait confidently. 

Have you received an answer, it just wasn't the answer you were expecting?

How did you handle getting an answer that you weren't anticipating?

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word & the reminder it provides that even in the waiting you are working strategically on my behalf. Thank you for building my character and spirit in this waiting season. I ask that you help me to slow down and recognize and acknowledge your answer, even if it wasn't what I was expecting. Please help me to understand that You have greater things planned for me, far beyond what I can imagine. 

Thank you for always listening to me and being with me as I wait for You.

Please continue to guide me in all that I do. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen.

KEY BIBLE VERSES

Lamentations 3:25-26

Psalm 86:7

Isaiah 40:31