God’s Planned Delays

Deferred. Held up. On the shelf. Staved off. Pushed back. Expecting. Hopeful. Suspenseful. Sitting tight. PREPARING.

What are you praying for? What are you saving for? What are you expecting? What’s holding you up? Are you delaying, or is God?

Peach-picking at The Southern Peach Company April 2023

Waiting, while you’re trusting God when it seems like He is not answering, is hard. Waiting, while seeing others around you receiving what your heart longs for, is hard. Waiting, while you’re ill or hurt and seeing others being healed, is hard. It feels like you’re playing Tug of War between yourself and God, thinking you know what’s best and showing obedience towards God’s will. It’s easy to be frustrated and resentful. It’s easy to compare your seasons to other’s seasons. You may be telling God that you are ready and feel like He may be delaying you. In your season of delay, God is preparing you for what you’ve been praying for. Those weak parts of your faith will be tested. You may be in the trenches, battered and hopeless, that’s when the enemy will come for you in these weak moments to tell you:

He isn’t good.

He isn’t listening.

He isn’t working.

He isn’t trustworthy.

He isn’t faithful.

He doesn’t love you.

But YOU must choose:

Choose to live in Him because He lives in us.

Choose to persevere and endure because He is building your character, firm foundation, and faith.

Choose to love because He IS love.

Choose to keep praying fervently because He is listening and working.

Choose peace because He fights our battles with us.

Choose patience because it is the utmost humbling surrender to the One who promises to keep no good thing from you when you fully trust in Him.

Choose to cling to hope because if not today, and if not tomorrow, eventually, God is going to show up and bless you.

In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Our pastor, Corey Abney, once said, “God’s delay often precedes our deliverance. God’s love is not always obvious in His actions or His inactions. You don’t know what hangs in the balance of your obedience to King Jesus. What seems like a small, average, or unusual thing today, might produce the fruit in your life that changes the trajectory of it and/or your family.” I have actually had these quotes written on cardstock and taped above my vanity since last year. God did not say in our deliverance that there will not be hard and sorrowful times in our lives, but to ask and seek Him all the time, every time. In John 16:33 NLT Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” He will wither away the storms. He will calm the seas. He will mend and use the broken. He will bring light to the world. He will guide and protect you. He will bring purpose to this season.

Pray for strength to surrender your anxieties and worries to God. Ask God to replace them with His peace, to fill your heart with trust in His care and planned delay. Pray that your faith only grows stronger. Thank God for walking you through these hard and long seasons. I encourage you to share one verse from this blog post with someone who has been on your heart. Pray for them through their season of planned delay and that they will find peace through trusting in Him.

Be a light + stay salty!

Talk soon!

Other Bible verses to soak in:

Luke 1:45 NLT says, “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Habakkuk 2:3 says, “This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. it will not be delayed.”

Romans 8:32 says, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything?”

2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

Songs to praise Him in:

“What Are We Waiting For?” by King & Country

“Jireh” by Elevation Worship & Maverick City

thesaltyhavenblog 2/9/24 thesaltyhavenblog 2/9/24

Ordained Moments from God

On my Facebook memories today, popped up a post from four years ago when Ada turned one week old with the exact photograph below on the right. I’m still in disbelief that she was born four years ago. In this Facebook post, I talked about things Ada loved, milestones she was accomplishing, how well she was sleeping, how well she was nursing, how great of a father Jesse had become, and how much we were in love with her. Behind the scenes that most people didn’t see, were the family and friends that were being beacons of light in that new, utterly blissful, sometimes dark season of our lives. Ada was born in 2020, just a few months before the pandemic and everything shut down. I stayed home for 6 months after she was born. I remember feeling robbed of our freedom and a lot of firsts as a new family. I remember thinking with a pit in my stomach, “I just brought my babygirl into this crazy and lost world.” Family and friends selflessly and willingly offered to bring us meals, listen to our newborn babygirl cry, and change her poopy diapers. Selflessly and willingly, guys-if that isn’t love. But I witnessed first-hand how one tiny human being brought so much tender, loving care into that crazy and lost world. Then I flashback to the mom I was four years ago in the left photograph below. I had an minuscule idea of the mental and physical toll labor and delivery can have on a woman’s body plus postpartum depression. Throw in a pandemic-it was hard. I’ll confess, I wish so hard that I had leaned more on Jesus and given myself more grace during that time rather than just pushing through and convincing myself it was normal to feel that way everyday. I was so hard on myself to be enough for her. I was so anxious. I was terrified of SIDS so I didn’t get any sleep. I was terrified to put her in her infant carrier-I constantly checked the rear view mirror. When I was out in public, I was terrified that someone would try to take her. I didn’t sleep while she slept until she was much older. All of these seemed like valid worries at the time. If you are feeling you are having symptoms of postpartum depression, seek professional help right away. We are so extremely grateful for our village of family and close friends that helped us four years ago and still do now, some were new parents themselves.

Matthew 5:14 (NLT) says just this, “you are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Sometimes God puts people on our hearts or on our minds for what seems like no reason. They are ordained moments from God that just can’t be explain any other way. It’s cliche, but you don’t know what challenge(s) someone is facing. It could be a financial challenge, grief, infertility, chronic pain, marital challenges, etc. Pray that God will use you today and everyday to be a blessing to a friend, a family member, a coworker, or someone in your life group. There’s a greater purpose to why God put them on your heart, or put you on someone else’s heart. Be intentional to let the light of the gospel shine through your day. God may use you one way today and another tomorrow. It can be as simple as delivering a meal to someone, picking up their drive-up order, posting a Bible verse on your social media, sending a quick text message letting them know they’re in your thoughts, or just lending a listening ear. I’ve learned that talking about your challenge(s) with loved ones is sometimes the best therapy. Give all your worry and burdens to God because he WANTS to take them all and carry them for all of us. He WANTS all the hard, grimy, sad, anxious, painful stuff. I pray that whatever challenge(s) you are going through, you lean on and turn to Jesus, and see him as your one true source of healing and peace. In Matthew 11: 28-30, Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Be a light + stay salty!

Talk soon!

Other bible verses to soak in:

Philippians 2:4 (NLT) says, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

Hebrews 6:10 (NLT) says, “For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.”