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You are getting a sneak peek of the new fall series coming out next week. Here is the first article on how Alex Fly of Harvest Letters learned to wrestle through a waiting season by seeking God in Scripture. Send Alex some encouragement for being brave to share her story!
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I’m really familiar with waiting. Like up-close-and-personal kind of familiar. Like you’ve-seen-all-the-worst-parts-of-me kind of familiar. Waiting and I—we’re not exactly friends, but I don’t think we’re enemies either. We’ve been in a few rough fights, but I’ve learned to appreciate her too. We’re like middle school buddies who’ve become adults. We may not see eye to eye all the time, but she knew me when I wore bright blue eyeshadow and went through that Zac Efron obsession, and I knew her when she covertly binged Laguna Beach even though she wasn’t allowed to watch MTV. (This is all hypothetical, of course, and not at all experienced scenarios.)
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But we’ll always have that thing, you know? We’ve hit the lowest of lows together, and we’ve come out on the other side in one piece (for the most part). Hindsight tells me to thank God for the waiting; for it was in the waiting where He made me a warrior.
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My worst fight with waiting involved a lot of negative pregnancy tests, needles, and prayers. It involved a lot of question-asking and tear-crying and heart-breaking. But I also had some good times with waiting, too. I desperately reached for God in a way I hadn’t before. I laughed so much it hurt. I grew thankful for the small-but-beautiful moments that otherwise might have gone unnoticed.
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For me, I think the hardest thing with waiting is the not-knowing.
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How is God going to use this?
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It’s in those middle, in-between moments where I find myself regressing in frustrated impatience. And then I get frustrated at myself because of my frustration in a weird, downward spiral that is not entirely becoming.
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I think, “If I am following Jesus, shouldn’t I be able to wait in a peaceful and patient manner? I should be better at this by now. I am the actual worst.” (This is a very logical thought process, obviously.) As my inner monologue starts to go in a dangerous and doubtful direction, I get a little (or a lot) panicky.
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But then, like a good father picking up his small-and-scared little girl, the Lord faithfully leads me back to Himself. He lets me ask the questions and then turns me in the right direction. I just have to follow, step by step.
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The main way God healed many of my waiting wounds was through Scripture. I opened up the Bible when I didn’t feel like it, and He gently reoriented my perspective. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, His Word washed over me and gave me life, purpose, and hope.
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“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”
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(Isaiah 40:31; emphasis added)
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We “shall run and not grow weary” not because of our own power, but because we are resting in His power. We “shall walk and not faint” and “renew [our] strength” not because of what we have done, but because we are relying on what the Lord has done.
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Through Scripture, the Lord showed me not to wait on circumstances, necessarily, but to wait on HIM. Because as we lift our gazes off ourselves and onto our Savior, we can’t help but grow in patient contentment. This is how we wrestle through the difficult moments. This is how we persevere through the hard things. This is how we wait well. We must keep looking to the God of the Bible, over and over again.
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We won’t do this perfectly, of course. And Lord knows it won’t always be easy, breezy, or beautiful (unlike a Cover Girl ad). We will definitely trip over our own desires and get somewhat sidetracked sometimes. We will continue to have occasional thought spirals that are not true.
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But we can keep coming back to this truth: God’s timing and plans have always been—and will always be—perfect and good. We can’t always see the beautiful masterpiece the Lord is painting, but He intimately knows every detail, color, and stroke. Do I sometimes wish that it was more of a paint-by-number situation? Sure. But I’m not the Master Artist; He is.
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As I look back on my hardest wait yet, I can see more of His masterpiece. It’s more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The wrestling of the wait revealed a wondrous work.
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Maybe you’re in the messy middle of a difficult waiting season right now. Or maybe you find yourself antsy and frustrated in the everyday waits you find yourself in: checkout lines, traffic lights, holds with those not-always-friendly customer service representatives.
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I see you and have a word of encouragement for you today, friend:
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Even though your wait may seem like an inconvenience, it’s really an invitation. An invitation to grow in patience. An invitation to rely on Jesus. An invitation to slow down and surrender to the God who’s got it all figured out.
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Let’s halt our hurry and watch the Lord to use our times of wait for His glory!
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-Alex Fly, Harvest Letters
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In case you missed it, here is a link to one of my most popular posts!
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Favorite Things This Month:
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Encouraging Read:
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I am enjoying this collaborative book on God's faithfulness to women of the Bible. I highly recommend it - excellent writing, moving testimonies, and great encouragement to keep holding to the faithfulness of God when we are tempted to lose heart. Women that God used had real struggles...that speaks to me! If you have a small group, this would be great to read and discuss together.
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Check out my Instagram for weekly lessons I glean from that week's chapter.
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New Music:
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Jesus Only You by London Gatch
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Beautiful song that has been playing on repeat and brings such calm. Jesus only you can make it right again.
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Subscriber Spotlight!
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Alex Fly is a writer, designer, and entrepreneur living in Birmingham, AL with her college-sweetheart husband and miracle baby girl. She loves a funny stand-up show as much as she admires a heartfelt poem, but mostly finds herself somewhere in the messy middle—over-analyzing all the things while joyfully clinging to the grace of Jesus. Alex is passionate about designing happy mail through her business, Alex Fly Designs, and creating Biblical resources that point others to the cross through her blog, The Harvest Letters.
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If you would like to be featured in an upcoming newsletter, contact me at terriprahl@gmail.com!
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Moments of Grace:
- Watching Christians rally to pray for hurting people in our communities, Afghanistan, and Haiti.
- Friends helping friends move.
- The kindness of strangers.
- I am celebrating my 48th birthday today, and I am thankful. I am grateful for health and joy today!
- You! I appreciate you all so much and hope this ministry blesses you.
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Links to other writers and articles worth sharing!
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Encouraging Good Work in the World:
- Donate to Samaritan's Purse to help with the crisis in Afghanistan here!
- Knowing that children all over this world are trapped and abused in sex trafficking sickens me and moves me to compassion - to pray and to find ways to help. Consider donating to the Destiny Rescue Ministry as they seek to rescue children from the sex slave industry. Let's be moved with compassion through donating! A part of the proceeds from every copy of Life, Repurposed goes to this ministry.
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If you missed any previous newsletters and want to check them out, you can go to the member archive and view past issues. The archive also holds the Psalm 119 study, Marriage study, 5 Principles for Spiritual Growth printable, and Hebrews 10 lesson. If you find anything here that you think would encourage someone else, please consider sharing and inviting them to subscribe. If you read an article on the blog you want to share, just click the social media icons on the right hand corner! This is a great way to support me and hopefully help others!
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A final note of encouragement:
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"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
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2021 may have many unknowns, but knowing God is with us gives us the strength to have hope for the future. His plans are good, and we can trust Him with our future.
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If you need prayer, please send me a message, and I will be more than happy to intercede on your behalf.
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