Archive for the ‘Delays’ Category
February 25th, 2010
“God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’” Gen 17:15-16 (NIV)
Can you imagine becoming a parent at age ninety or a hundred? That’s difficult to fathom. However, the greater challenge would be to desire parenthood and having to wait until you were almost a century old to realize the dream.
Abraham and Sarah had to learn to live with delays. God had promised to bless them and to make them into a great nation. However, they had to walk in obedience to God and wait for His timing.
Have you noticed how our personal timetable doesn’t always line up with God’s timetable? We tend to want our blessing now. We don’t usually “wait” very well.
God has a divine purpose in our delays. Sometimes delays are a result of poor choices we have made and sometimes a consequence of poor choices those around us have made. Either way, God can use delays to portray His grace.
God has the final say doesn’t He? Nothing happens without God’s permission. If God allows a delay in your life, He will utilize the delay. Now rest in God’s timing. Entrust your life to Him.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
February 16th, 2010
“As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.’” 1 Sam 1:12-14 (NIV)
Have you ever been misunderstood?
When you are hurting, your emotions will be expressed through anger, suppression, depression, or grief. At some point, your hurt will manifest. For Hannah, her pain was being expressed through heartfelt prayer. She was unveiling her broken heart before the Lord. Hannah was barren. Eli misinterpreted her pain as that of being drunk. That was far from the truth of Hannah’s condition. She wasn’t drunk. She was devastated with the reality of her circumstances. Can you relate?
- “‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.’” 1 Sam 1:15-16 (NIV)
God knows what you are feeling right now. God knows where you are and where you are headed. Nothing catches God by surprise. Maybe you are experiencing a delay that just doesn’t make sense to you. Know that God has a purpose for every delay we endure. God understands our feelings and our frustrations even when others may not understand. God is all knowing. God has the final say!
For those who have misunderstood you, will you entrust them to God? For the delays you are experiencing, will you entrust them to God as well?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
February 7th, 2010
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
“And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” Ex 3:11-12 (NIV)
What benefits were available to Moses in the desert that were unavailable to him in the palace? What could God teach Moses in the dusty desert that he could not learn in the palatial palace?
I remember going through a difficult season in ministry and felt led to call one of my mentors. I shared with him that perhaps God was preparing me for my next assignment. I’ll never forget his response. He said, “Stephen, God is always preparing you for your next assignment. However, your next assignment may be right where you are.”
Moses probably felt that way. He likely wondered what God could possibly be up to by allowing him to remain in the desert for forty years. God allowed Moses to experience forty years in the palace to prepare him for the forty years in the desert to prepare him for the forty years of leading the children of Israel to the Promised Land.
God does not waste our desert experiences. God uses those dry times in our lives to reveal Himself in a way that we would not comprehend otherwise. He is always preparing us for our next interaction, our next appointment, our next interruption, and our next assignment.
God will redeem the season you are in. Are you willing to trust God with your life? Are you willing to submit to His prompting?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
August 3rd, 2009
“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” John 11:5-6 (NIV)
Delays are painful. We understand that God is all-knowing and that God is love, but we just don’t always fully understand God’s timing. When God doesn’t respond in the time frame that we have established, we wonder if God really cares. Delays intensify our fears and magnify the reality of our meager faith.
Have you ever been between a rock and hard place and wondered if God would come through for you? Have your circumstances ever taken you to a place you never thought you would go? God allows us to go through those seasons and experience those places in order to come to know the depth of His love. God is for us. God always has our best interest in mind. Nothing happens to a child of God without His permission. If God permits it, then God will use it for your good and for His glory.
Martha and Mary experienced the full impact of a delay. Their brother, Lazarus, was sick and died before Jesus got there. They knew firsthand the trauma of unmet expectations. They had seen Jesus speak life into the dead. They had seen Jesus restore sight to the blind, speech to the mute, mobility to the lame, and hearing to the deaf. Yet, Jesus did not operate according to their personal time preference. Jesus delayed.
Why doesn’t God show up to resolve your dilemmas sooner? Why does God seem to delay His response to your need for divine intervention? God’s timing is perfect. He is never late. God, in His sovereignty, takes the confetti of our lives and produces a portrait of His grace.
Do you trust God? Are you entrusting your life and your circumstances to His care? Are you willing to obey God in the midst of a perceived delay?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
(This devotional was originally posted in ‘07 or ‘08. I’m taking a break from writing for a season of personal renewal.)
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
March 8th, 2009
“God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’” Gen 17:15-16 (NIV)
Can you imagine becoming a parent at age ninety or a hundred? That’s difficult to fathom. However, the greater challenge would be to desire parenthood and having to wait until you were almost a century old to realize the dream.
Abraham and Sarah had to learn to live with delays. God had promised to bless them and to make them into a great nation. However, they had to walk in obedience to God and wait for His timing.
Have you noticed how our personal timetable doesn’t always line up with God’s timetable? We tend to want our blessing now. We don’t usually “wait” very well.
God has a divine purpose in our delays. Sometimes delays are a result of poor choices we have made and sometimes a consequence of poor choices those around us have made. Either way, God can use delays to portray His grace. God has the final say doesn’t He? Nothing happens without God’s permission. If God allows a delay in your life, He will utilize the delay. Now rest in God’s timing. Entrust your life to Him.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
June 7th, 2008
“As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.’” 1 Sam 1:12-14 (NIV)
Have you ever been misunderstood?
When you are hurting, your emotions will be expressed through anger, suppression, depression, or grief. At some point, your hurt will manifest. For Hannah, her pain was being expressed through heartfelt prayer. She was unveiling her broken heart before the Lord. Hannah was barren. Eli misinterpreted her pain as that of being drunk. That was far from the truth of Hannah’s condition. She wasn’t drunk. She was devastated with the reality of her circumstances. Can you relate?
- “‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.’” 1 Sam 1:15-16 (NIV)
- “Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the LORD for him.’” 1 Sam 1:19-20 (NIV)
God knows what you are feeling right now. God knows where you are and where you are headed. Nothing catches God by surprise. Maybe you are experiencing a delay that just doesn’t make sense to you. Know that God has a purpose for every delay we endure. God understands our feelings and our frustrations even when others may not understand. God is all-knowing. God has the final say!
For those who have misunderstood you, will you entrust them to God? For the delays you are experiencing, will you entrust them to God as well?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
March 25th, 2008
“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” John 11:5-6 (NIV)
Delays are painful. We understand that God is all-knowing and that God is love, but we just don’t always fully understand God’s timing. When God doesn’t respond in the time frame that we have established, we wonder if God really cares. Delays intensify our fears and magnify the reality of our meager faith.
Have you ever been between a rock and hard place and wondered if God would come through for you? Have your circumstances ever taken you to a place you never thought you would go? God allows us to go through those seasons and experience those places in order to come to know the depth of His love. God is for us. God always has our best interest in mind. Nothing happens to a child of God without His permission. If God permits it, then God will use it for your good and for His glory.
Martha and Mary experienced the full impact of a delay. Their brother, Lazarus, was sick and died before Jesus got there. They knew firsthand the trauma of unmet expectations. They had seen Jesus speak life into the dead. They had seen Jesus restore sight to the blind, speech to the mute, mobility to the lame, and hearing to the deaf. Yet, Jesus did not operate according to their personal time preference. Jesus delayed.
Why doesn’t God show up to resolve your dilemmas sooner? Why does God seem to delay His response to your need for divine intervention? God’s timing is perfect. He is never late. God, in His sovereignty, takes the confetti of our lives and produces a portrait of His grace.
Do you trust God? Are you entrusting your life and your circumstances to His care? Are you willing to obey God in the midst of a perceived delay?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
June 21st, 2007
“God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’” Gen 17:15-17 (NIV)
Can you imagine becoming a parent at age ninety or a hundred? That’s difficult to fathom. However, the greater challenge would be to desire parenthood and having to wait until you were almost a century old to realize the dream.
Abraham and Sarah had to learn to live with delays. God had promised to bless them and to make them into a great nation. However, they had to walk in obedience to God and wait for His timing.
Have you noticed how our personal timetable doesn’t always line up with God’s timetable? We tend to want our blessing now. We don’t usually “wait” very well.
God has a divine purpose in our delays. Sometimes delays are a result of poor choices we have made and sometimes a consequence of poor choices others around us have made. Either way, God can use delays to portray His grace. God has the final say doesn’t He? Nothing happens without God’s permission. If God allows a delay in your life, He will utilize the delay. Now rest in God’s timing. Entrust your life to Him.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care