April Scripture Writing Plan: Waiting on God

Happy almost April sweet friends!

The scripture writing plan this month is over something many struggle with:

Waiting on God

Waiting stinks. It goes against just about everything in our world today. Everyone wants everything RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Instant. Immediate gratification. On demand. We have become a culture that thinks waiting is beneath us and all things should come to us super quickly- and when they don’t? Goodness, do we tend to get irritated and angry! Waiting at a light, food delivery taking longer than expected, packages not arriving in 2 days, downloading something on your computer- all are things that can turn most of us into crankypants super fast!

Part of the reason why we struggle with waiting is because we often equate waiting with inactivity and inactivity with being unproductive. But honestly waiting, which can also be translated as hoping, means to wait with expectation, to look for. My precious puppy Poppy (seriously- she is the cutest puppy EVER) is a perfect example of how we should wait. During dinner she will sit by my chair staring up at me without blinking or moving. She does this because she knows I will give her the last bite on my plate. She doesn't bark or jump, she just waits, patiently and quietly. She does so because over time I have proved to her that I can be trusted and when the time is right, I WILL share with her. 

Waiting is something that puts us in a position to experience more of God’s love and grace in our lives- WHILE we wait. So often waiting gives us an opportunity to see God work in ways we COULD NOT and WOULD NOT see otherwise. During these periods of waiting God is often refueling and refining us for what He has in store. God knows that we would never choose to wait, so He provides opportunities to wait in order to see that His way is actually the best way. He uses the wait to grow our faith as we acknowledge our need for Him and learn to trust Him. God never wastes our waiting. He uses it to do a work in our lives so that He can do a work through our lives.

My prayer is that these verses are a comfort to you when you are in a season of waiting on the Lord.

FYI: I made the plan 31 days and plan to do that with

all topical plans in the future so that they can be done any month-

not just the month I write them for.

TO PRINT: You can find a copy of the plan in English and Spanish in the folder HERE.

{Just a reminder, don't try to print the images below or they will be blurry. Be sure to click the link to download a PDF copy!}

The Lifter of My Head

I noticed recently that most of the time that I see people walking alone, they are doing so with their heads hanging down low- as if they are weighed down by the burdens they are carrying on their shoulders. In a school, on the sidewalk, at the grocery store- head down. They don’t make eye-contact and seem to be cautious and guarded. It is as if they don’t want to be seen. Fixing their eyes on the floor appears to be their way of avoiding being noticed. After noticing this I have caught myself several times lately doing the exact same thing- usually when I am deep in thought or worried or discouraged. You may be in that place today-head down, feeling like your situation is hopeless, that everything is going wrong and you simply can’t get your head above water. You may feel alone and discouraged. If that is you today, I have some good news!

I recently read Psalm 3:3 and loved it so. It says... 

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. (ESV)

It is important to know that David wrote this beautiful Psalm during the absolute worst time in his life. His son, Absalom, wanted his father’s crown and had launched a plot to assassinate him. Those closest to him (not strangers- his closest friends), those who he trusted and placed his confidence in, were now those who against him and were actually trying to kill him. Poor David was betrayed, crushed and heartbroken and forced to flee his palace and Jerusalem in fear for his life. Psalm 3 was his written plea to God.

In this verse he reminds himself (and us) of three things he knows to be true about God. One, God is a shield. Now a shield doesn’t mean that you won’t have arrows shot at you- just that you’ll have protection from those arrows. Two, God is his glory since he has no glory of his own. Third, God is the one who lifts his head. He is defeated and depressed and his head is hung in shame. He is confident though that God will lift his head and restore his hope.

When we are looking down, our eyes are only fixed on a small area of the ground below us. What we see is a very limited space. But when God lifts our head and we look up- we see the whole horizon before us and all that God has created and has in store for us. My sweet friend Gina is from Kentucky and I remember the first time she visited us in Texas. She kept mentioning the “big sky”. Finally I asked her what she meant, because the sky was the same in Texas that it was in Kentucky. She explained that because of the mountains in KY, the view of the sky was limited. But since Texas is so flat, the horizon is huge. In other words, BIG SKY. I like to think of God lifting my head and me noticing that big, huge sky- and all the other things He has created.

Is your head down today? Look up sweet friend. God is with you in the dark places. He sees you there. He is a shield around you. He is the glory. He is the lifter of your head. He loves you so. My prayer for you today is that you would call on His mighty name and ask him for help now- allow Him to lift your head.

Fun and Encouraging Pencils

Who loves fun pencils? I'm a nerdy lover of all kinds of office supplies and I LOVE pencils with sayings on them! I recently printed a bunch of pencils with fun sayings on them and added them to my ETSY store. I have a set that say YOU ARE LOVED GREATLY and a set of 10 different sayings (some funny and some sweet) that I just listed. These pencils would make a fun little gift or as a treat for yourself! I have a limited supply but based on the sales of these, I will be adding more!

Sweet Blessings ETSY Store

COUPON CODE: From March 19-April 1st spend $20 or more and get 20% off using the code 20FOR20

Surrender

As we remodeled our current house to get it ready to sell we did a lot of packing and a LOT of moving furniture. And many times as we prepared to pick up a piece of heavy furniture, my husband (who is 6 feet tall and 250+ lbs and way larger than I am at 5ft 2ish) would give me a little pep talk because I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to lift and carry my side of the load. I would usually start saying things like…."I don’t know if I can carry this. I don’t think I can carry this. What if I drop my side? What if I throw my back out?" And because he’s incredibly patient and awesome (and was probably tired of listening to my worries and concerns), he came up with some things to help me. He purchased some moving straps (they are awesome!) and a flat dolly to stick under my side of the furniture. He would often carry the heavier part of the load and sometimes place a chair so that I could set the furniture down on it when I needed to rest for a minute. These were all things he put in place to support me, to help me, to keep me from harm. But he only did those things because I shared my fears with him and was willing and open to accept his help.

I think that’s how God is with us- He is there, always- ready to take on the many burdens we have on our shoulders. He’s there ready and willing to help it’s just that we just have to turn to Him because we aren’t meant to carry those burdens alone. We must deliberately place them on God’s shoulders and share our burdens- all of them- with Him. Sometimes I think we don’t feel God is with us, because we simply haven’t reached Him to help us, we simply don’t surrender to Him. Sometimes it’s out of pride, sometimes out of fear, and sometimes out of ignorance- but no matter the cause, we just don’t go to Him and share our burdens with Him. We just keeping trying to operate in our strength, are overwhelmed and fail, miserably. 

He reminds us of this many times in the bible including in Psalm 55:22-23 which says…

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. NIV

Today if your burdens feel too heavy to bear, my prayer is that you are reminded that God is there, ready to help you carry them. I pray that if you are feeling overwhelmed today, that you pour out your heart in prayer to our Heavenly Father —holding absolutely nothing back. Lean on and into Him. Surrender to Him. And that when you feel that burden lightening even the slightest bit, that you remember to thank Him for His goodness and His faithfulness. He’s there waiting to help you. Lean on and into Him. Surrender.