By Ashley Wells, on October 31st, 2011 {Note: I got behind and overwhelmed after being sick. So, I am two days behind. I am still going to post my thoughts though and continue the 31 days. This is day 29.}
 So many times when I am thinking about how my life will be changing, I think about my own comfort level and some fear rises in me and makes me not want to move forward.
Has this every happened to you?
Maybe you were waiting for a new job for you or your hubby. Then a new job is provided. However, it had a lot of changes you weren’t expecting and it made you want things to stay just the way they are.
Or maybe you had been waiting for a husband. Now the Lord has graciously brought someone into your life to fill that role. However, you are full of doubts and questions. You had finally developed a spirit contentment in your singleness. You are afraid to move forward.
I think that the Lord gives us a unsettled sense in our spirit sometimes when we are leading down a road where He doesn’t want us. In those times, our fear may be a good thing that is providing a clear sense that this is not in God’s will and to stop.
However, I also think that this fear can be driven by our sin as well. I mean, who really wasn’t their world turned upside down? Who wants change? Especially when it may be difficult and stretch us?
How do you decipher between these two situations? Here are three main ways that come straight to my mind:
Lots and lots of prayer, spending time in God’s Word, and seeking biblical counsel.
Once you can decide whether it’s God’s will, it is easier to decide whether to move forward. If you feel that you have this fear because you are straying from God’s will, do not continue. Stop. Seek His will instead.
However, if you feel that you are in God’s will and this fear is sinfully creeping up in you, fight against it! Pray continually to the Lord asking for peace and guidance.
Satan will try to cause us to stray and take us off the path that leads to the Lord. If you are waiting and afraid to move forward, the enemy may be trying to keep you from embracing a wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord and further His Kingdom.
Always remember: we are fighting a spiritual war, be on guard, and ready to fight against our enemy! Lay aside fear and continue in boldness!
Question for you:
How have you seen the Lord guide you when you were afraid to move forward?
This post is part of my 31 Days of Waiting series. Read all the posts in the series here.
By Ashley Wells, on October 28th, 2011 As I wipe my tears away left behind after my pleas, my husband does what he does best, helps me refocus.
He starts, “It’s been a long season. But, we are so close! We are almost there. Don’t give up. Keep pressing forward. Our time is right around the corner. We just need to persevere. It’s the end of the race.”
 © Stressbooster | Dreamstime.com His words calm me down. They are a ray of sunshine in the pouring rain.
Not only that, but his words point me to the Word.
I walk away from our encounter and I’m hungry. I dig in deep, into the Word of God.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV)
Paul surely had some struggles. I don’t think any of us would say his life was full of ease. But yet, the hope in his words is clear.
Our hope to press on is from Christ.
It’s not from our own strength or will.
We must look to our future.
Not only that, but we can’t let our past get in the way.
We must focus on our prize.
As Christians, we have a future of eternal glory in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes our current situations blur or distract our focus. I know because it happens to me all the time! However, we need to readjust and refocus upward. We must keep our perspective on Christ.
When the waiting gets hard and you want to give up, keep pressing forward.
When the end is just beyond your reach and right around the corner, keep pressing forward.
These times of testing will help to grow our perseverance and run this race til the end! This trial is just training. Give it your all and don’t give up, ever!
Question for you:
Why is the last leg of the race always the hardest? Got any tips for how to get through?
This post is part of my 31 Days of Waiting series. Read all the posts in the series here.
By Ashley Wells, on October 27th, 2011 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4 16-18
This verse complete awes me. We are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. That is why we have reason to not lose heart.
Cling to Jesus.
Hold firm in your faith.
Keep hope close.
This post is part of my 31 Days of Waiting series. Read all the posts in the series here.
By Ashley Wells, on October 26th, 2011 I hid my face in my husband’s shoulder and the tears started flowing heavy.
“Why is God having us wait so long”
“I just don’t understand. It is so hard, all this waiting.”
Some days it is so hard. The reality of orphans all over the world needing a home and us having four beds waiting to be filled, and yet stalled plans, is difficult.
Maybe for you it’s a house full of family, children and parents, but yet your husband is out of work and can’t find a job. Or maybe you are passionate about God’s plans for marriage and family, but He hasn’t brought you a husband yet. Or maybe you’ve felt the calling to go overseas and spread the gospel to unreached people across the globe, but for now you’re still here working through Seminary, slow and steady…
It’s hard to wait. Especially, when the waiting takes time, years even. How do you keep going?
 © Lane Erickson | Dreamstime.com One way I keep going is fixing my perspective on time. You see, I can easily get distracted by the ticking of the clock right in front of me, when instead I need to fix my perspective more on the grand scheme of things…
This life that we live is temporary. It is temporary and fading fast. We only get one life to live here on this earth, and in the grand scheme of things, our life is but a dot on a line.
In the total years of my life, I think I will look back and wish I wouldn’t have focused so much on what I wanted, but instead on what I had.
Because, you see, in the course of even my short life, these years will melt into the distance.
I’ll remember them, but yet they will be overshadowed by the rest of my life. The parts of my life that I spent truly living. Embracing. Enjoying.
I’ve got some moments when I do that, but I need to do that more! I need to live today and trust God for the rest. I need to focus on the here and now and let tomorrow care for itself.
I don’t want to spend my life dreaming of living, I want to live today and use this time wisely.
Question for you:
How do you keep going when this waiting takes time?
This post is part of my 31 Days of Waiting series. Read all the posts in the series here.
By Ashley Wells, on October 25th, 2011 Sometimes when I think of moving forward, no longer waiting…I get scared. I mean, we’ve been waiting now for almost 6 years for children.
6 years of becoming more united.
6 years of spending time together, just the two of us.
6 years of getting to know each other.
6 years of getting comfortable.
This is comfortable, just the two of us. I know that once we get kids, things are going to change. Our life is going to be different. We will be stretched.
You see, sometimes when you wait for so long, it becomes comfortable. You don’t realize it, but with all the waiting, you’ve settled into routines and got used to life that way it is.
Maybe the same is true for someone who is waiting for a husband. As much as you want a husband and to be married and start a family, you’ve probably gotten pretty comfortable just the way you are. The thought of all the changes on the horizon (if you’ve met someone) can be slightly overwhelming.
This feeling, though, it’s good!
It’s good because I don’t think that life, as a Christian, is supposed to be comfortable. So, when it’s time to no longer wait, and you start to get a little unsettled, it’s okay!
Life is meant to be a process of continually change. We are always growing, always moving forward, always learning something new.
When life becomes too comfortable, we settle in and go through the motions. We don’t take risks. We don’t seek opportunities to step outside of our comfort zone.
Christ is not calling you to live comfortably.
So, when you’re waiting and you get comfortable…get ready for things to shake up a bit!
It may not be in the area that you are waiting on…however, maybe in the midst of your waiting God chooses to grow you a little. Give you a new experience. Teach you a few things. Make you more like Him. Shake it up!
Don’t fight back against change. Let it sink into your heart and help you move forward!
Question for you:
Do you struggle with change? What makes it so hard?
This post is part of my 31 Days of Waiting series. Read all the posts in the series here.
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