Greetings from Cyprus! We are now headed into our fourth month and will be leaving at the end of the week to fly to Lebanon, where we will be until December. Cyprus has been my favorite country so far and I am so sad to be leaving! Our host has a media ministry that broadcasts the gospel out into the Arab world, so we have been helping him film videos and clean out his studio that is also the home we are staying in.
We have also been serving at a refugee center, helping them move and set up their second-hand shop that will raise money for any refugees who seek the center’s assistance. We work with mostly older men and women, so we have been “adopted” by many new grandmothers and grandfathers! Time with them has been so joyful and we are cherishing the last few days we have left together.
I would describe this time in Cyprus as a time of renewal and healing. I have felt this fire reignite inside of me when it comes to some of the things I am passionate about, and while I don’t know where any of it will take me, it has been so sweet to delight in those things and I have definitely felt the Lord’s hand in it all. He is definitely healing areas of insecurity and self-doubt and I’m hoping the growth here is only beginning and will continue on in the months ahead.
Everyday I write in a journal about what went on that day and what God was showing me, and while there are many different lessons I’m learning, the thing that God is continually saying to me is “wait.” What exactly I’m waiting for I’m not sure, but I have found in moments of anxiety, sadness or joy, I am hearing Him whisper “wait.” I recognize that I tend to try to control things and make plans when I know I just need to be patient and present, so I’m trying to figure out what it really means to just… wait.
I keep coming back to 1 Samuel 1, where Hannah has been longing to have a son, but she is unable to conceive. She is mocked continually for being unable to become pregnant, but she prays and waits on God to give her a child. Instead of pulling away from Him in suspicion, she presses in even closer, filling the space of her waiting with prayer. Eventually, in God’s perfect timing, she conceives and bears a son, Samuel.
And in due time, Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”
1 Samuel 1:20
In. Due. Time. Samuel was born in God’s perfect timing. The timing of his birth was imperative because Samuel was destined to play an integral role in the transition from the time of the judges to the eventual establishment of kingship for the Israelites. We also find out in the next chapter that God later gives her three more sons and two daughters. More, I imagine, than she ever thought possible at the time that she was asking God to give her even just one son. God wasn’t ignoring Hannah at any point during her time of heartache and struggle. Things happened as they did for her good and His glory.
I have a lot of dreams and desires that I long to see play out in my life, but nothing I could control or make happen on my own could ever compare to what He has in store for me in HIS timing. He simply loves us too much to answer our prayers at any other time than the right time and in any other way than the right way. So, I will continue to “wait.” He has much more in store for me, and you, than any of us could ever imagine. In due time.
The Lord replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.”
Habakkuk 1:5
What I’m currently reading:
The enemy wants us to feel rejected . . . left out, lonely and less than. When we allow him to speak lies through our rejection, he pickpockets our purpose. Cripples our courage. Dismantles our dreams. And blinds us to the beauty of Christ’s powerful love. In Uninvited, Lysa shares her own deeply personal experiences with rejection—from the incredibly painful childhood abandonment by her father to the perceived judgment of the perfectly toned woman one elliptical over.
With biblical depth, gut-honest vulnerability, and refreshing wit, Lysa helps readers:
- Release the desire to fall apart or control the actions of others by embracing God-honoring ways to process their hurt.
- Overcome the two core fears that feed our insecurities by understanding the secret of belonging.
- Stop feeling left out and start believing that “set apart” does not mean “set aside.”
- End the cycle of perceived rejection by refusing to turn a small incident into a full blown issue.
What I’m listening to:
