Encouragement for when you are in a season of waiting – S2, E37

In today’s episode, Jami is sharing 3 seasons of waiting that her family has walked through, and what God has taught them along the way. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. When my mom died, it took 6 months to get her toxicology reports back. In this season of grief and not understanding, I had to turn to the Lord again and again in my grief, in my anger, and in my utter inability to fix any of it.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) When we tried to sell our house, the market was raging hot, it crashed the week we listed our house and took 12 months to sell. In a season of financial struggle, we learned a lot about trusting the Lord and thanking him for every single dollar that comes in.  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” - Matthew 6:25-33 When we desired another baby and it took 12 months to conceive, we had to come really to grips with the fact that we are NOT in control of our fertility in any way, shape, or manner and that we can choose peace and contentment no matter what.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6) Now, we find ourselves in a season of waiting once again. We are ready and excited for the next step of building our homestead. We feel a certain amount of excitement and impatience since it feels like our kids are growing so old, so fast.  But God has said not yet. He is asking us to be patient and to trust him. And so once again, we find ourselves in this season of waiting on the Lord, trusting in Him.  And these seasons of waiting have taught me many things:  To plan well, to be a wise steward of what God has given us, and then sit back and be totally content with how God leads. When he opens a door you will know, when he closes a door, you can praise Him.  When everything feels impossible to line up, if it’s God’s will, it will line up. We well and truly can trust in all of the Bible verses urging us to trust in the Lord.  It’s often in the waiting that God is refining us, molding us, and shaping us. Before we had kids, before I had lost my mom, and before I had really encountered very many hard things as an adult, I struggled greatly with anxiety. Now, I can hardly fathom why I struggled with it so much since what I was dealing with and facing then feels so minor to the things I have walked through since. But it was an intense season of anxiety none the less. And through that season, God was teaching me.