Wait....

This amazing poem was posted on FB last night and I thought it may be of encouragement for times when we wonder when God will answer our prayers, our cries, our heart's desires. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

WAIT by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . . And the Master so gently said, "Wait." "Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word. "My future and all to which I relate Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign, Or even a 'no' to which I can resign. "You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, We need but to ask, and we shall receive. And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry: I'm weary of asking! I need a reply." Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, As my Master replied again, "Wait." So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?" He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . . and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign. I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run. "I could give all you seek and pleased you would be. You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me. You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint. You'd not know the power that I give to the faint. "You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair; You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there. You'd not know the joy of resting in Me When darkness and silence are all you can see. "You'd never experience the fullness of love When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove. You would know that I give, and I save, for a start, But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart. "The glow of my comfort late into the night, The faith that I give when you walk without sight. The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask From an infinite God who makes what you have last. "You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee, What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee. Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true, But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you. "So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me. And though oft My answers seem terribly late, My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait." ©Russell Kelfer. All rights reserved.

In Love with with Great Potential?

I'm seeing this cycle time and time again. Young women (and sometimes men too) falling in love with someone who they see great potential in. They justify these relationships to others who have noticed the red flags by saying, "Oh but I just see the man/woman they can be!" or "they're working on becoming what I need". Unfortunately, the reality is that for very few of these relationships will that potential ever become a reality and again ladies/guys are left disappointed, brokenhearted, and pining away for what "could have been" rather than the reality of what was.

Potential...You know what potential is? Just wishful thinking. A possibility that doesn't exist unless it's fulfilled.

My advice to all the singles out there, don't date the potential you see, date the reality because that potential is no guarantee. No matter how much love or time you put into trying to change someone into the potential you see in them, the truth is that the only person that can decide to make the change is them. As long as you're hanging around loving them (and nagging them) for who they are, the longer they'll remain just as they are.

I challenge you to decide what you're looking for in your future mate and to settle for nothing less. In doing so, you can more freely love them because they don't need to be told by you how to act and what to do....they'll just do it! I know for myself, part of my own process of change (becoming less self focused and more others focused) came about from my own relationship with God. As I started to understand how God loved others, and how he intended me to love others, I stopped demanding that all my needs be fulfilled by my dating partners and started seeing that only God could fulfill them. In turn, I attracted my husband, a man who has a selfless heart for serving others wholeheartedly, without second thought. He saw in me a woman fully relying on God and and I saw in him a man that loved God in such a way that obedience to Him was the most important thing. That meant that IF GOD wanted him to change, he would. I knew I could love a man with such a willing heart because I knew he would love me just as I had always desired.

No more settling my friends!