NO, NOT YET, NOW HOW I WANT IT!

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope" (Jeremiah29:11)

 Acceptance of the things I cannot change. Trusting God's plan and not my own.  Accepting God's NO, NOT YET, or NOT HOW YOU WANT IT.  These were all topics in the reflections today.  Acceptance is defined as the act of assenting or believing. In the readings, King David had a dream to create a beautiful resting place for God.  His dream detailed a grand palace, in the form of a cedar box, to house God in.  While his determination and intentions were noble, God had a different and better plan in store for David and his decedents. He gently made David accept that it wasn't the right time for his dream.

 I pondered this and thought of my own life and my dreams.  Dreams that I have brought to God in petition.  The desires on my heart that I persistently ask him to give me.  The numerous times I have sought his mercy and goodness, asking him, to grant me my requests only to be told NO, NOT YET, NOT HOW YOU WANT IT. What I must remember is just because I ask doesn't always mean I will receive my desire at all, in the time I want it, or how I think it should be given.  Furthermore, when God does speak, no matter what response I get, my soul must be willing to ACCEPT his answer.

There will be and have been times when I am told NO to my requests. There are also times when I will be and have been told NOT YET.  When I must patiently wait on God to give me the desires of my heart in his time and not my own. There will also be and have been times in my life, where God grants my request, but it looks nothing like HOW I WANT IT, or imagined it would be.   

The good news is God has a special plan for each of my dreams, requests, petitions and heart's desires.  When they unfold, regardless of his answer, I can be sure it will be better than anything I could imagine or hope for. While I am "Waiting on God's" response, I need acceptance to his plan not my own. To be okay with what he is providing and trust that he will give me everything good thing according to his purpose.

 I must find my joy in the NO, NOT YET, NOT HOW I WANT.   I don't know why it is so difficult to accept his plan for me?  He will always out do anything I can come up with for myself. He already knows all the plans he has for me. Heck, most of the time, I limit God by my small human scope.  He knows my past, he knows my present, and he certainly is the designer of my future.  He is the sovereign, not me, yet I will certainly tell him how to do his job most days.  Expecting him to do my bidding instead of the other way around.  When he doesn't cooperate the way I want him to, I get frustrated, discouraged, angry, and sad.  Wouldn't it be much easier to avoid all those feelings and just accept he knows more than I do and always will?  His plan will always be the Rodeo Drive to my backwoods country roads.   

How do I find acceptance in things and sometimes even people I can't change? The easy and, I guess, hard answer is by turning my dreams, wants, desires, and worries over completely to God and trusting he will work it out according to his will and the good of all those who love him. It is sometimes the hardest thing to do but speaking from experience also the most rewarding. What desires have you given to God? Have you received the NO, NOT YET, NOT HOW I WANT answer?  Ask him for the courage of acceptance. Ask him to increase your trust.  Your peace will be plentiful when you give it to him.

Keep on trucking