When I Think About The Lord

This past week our church choir sang the Brooklyn Tabernacle song, "When I Think About the Lord". This is one of my favorites and brings back so many fond memories of when we sang it years ago. I was not the only one who enjoyed it, as the entire room was filled with joy and awe as the choir sang, and we all remembered the Lord and what He's done. It was truly a special moment.

The chorus goes like this:

It makes me wanna shout

Hallelujah

Thank you Jesus

For you worthy of all of the glory,

And all of the honor,

And all of the praise.

While I was filled with awe and remembered all the Lord had done, by the time I got home the worries of the world, more accurately my world, began to weigh me down, and I wasn't singing hallelujah, thank you Jesus anymore. I forgot all about that and sat with the Lord in sadness. The thing is, He's so good, even in the sadness. He sat with me when no one else could or would. He was there when I felt all the hard feelings and unknowns. It seems that sometimes all I need is to know that He's there, that I'm seen, and He cares. ("Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7)

On this particular day, the Lord didn't keep me in the sadness.

As the song continues:

He picked me up

Turned me around

Placed my feet

On solid ground

He picked me up, and gave me a renewed vision for the future. The troubles I was facing this day did not go away, but as I handed them over to Him, He carried them for me, and gave me hope. You see, God doesn't always take away our pain, but sometimes He brings good out of the pain.

At this moment God reminded me of a calling He placed on my life more than 15 years ago. It was then He clearly told me He wanted me to write, but didn't give me many more details than that. Throughout the years little by little He gave me bits of pieces of what to write, but not enough to really get me started.

Then all of a sudden, in the middle of the overwhelming sadness I was experiencing, the Lord picked me up and gave me the vision for what He wants me to share. The overwhelming sadness turned to exuberant joy as my pen frantically tried to keep up with all the things He wants me to write. It's seriously pages and pages of writing prompts given to me by the Lord, as a testimony about His faithfulness in that time of waiting. And this is just one of the stories I have to shout about, to thank Jesus for, and give Him all the honor, glory, and praise! As always, His timing is perfect, even 15+ years later.

I hope this encourages you to lean into the Father with all the hard emotions, hand them over to Him, and let Him hold you. May you be able to trust in His timing for that breakthrough, even if that breakthrough isn't the one you had been hoping for. Remember that God is Working in the waiting.