Recently, I
read an article about waiting for God’s plan to reveal itself. In this article,
it mentions the story about Mary and Martha waiting for Jesus to come and save
their brother Lazarus from his death. I have read this story many times, but
never once have I focused on the fact that Mary and Martha waited and waited
for Jesus to come and He didn’t come until four days after their brother’s
death. I can only imagine how frustrating and painful this must have been for
the two sisters, knowing that Jesus could easily have saved their brother from
death. Yet, when Jesus does finally arrive Martha says to Him:
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother
would not have died. But I know that
even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:21-22)
A little bit
farther down in Chapter 11 in verse 27, Martha
says, “I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the
world.” She said this before Lazarus was raised from the dead. This woman
loves Jesus despite of what He can give to her. She said this even when she
believed that Jesus did not come to save her brother, before she knew that she
would be able to see her brother again. That is SO powerful. She waited and
waited for Jesus to come, but even in her disappoint she chooses to love Him
and trust Him.
Having
patience with people is an ability that God has blessed me with, not to boast
but it is something that I cherish because it gives me the chance to work with
some of the sweetest, kindest people who are very good at testing my patience:
special needs children and children in general. However, I do not have much
patience when it comes to life situations and my future plans. I like to know
things right away and be prepared for whatever life is going to throw at me. As
I have been learning this semester, waiting only brings about greater
blessings. Mary and Martha are the perfect example of how waiting, even though
it may be hard and seem useless, brings about greater things than you could
have ever imagined. Their unwavering faith in Jesus is truly inspiring and
something that I have been trying to bring into my life this past few months.
This past
weekend, my patience and ability to wait was tested to the limit. As many of
you may know, I am currently trying to get a degree in Early Childhood
Education at the University of Georgia. This is the most competitive major
inside of the College of Education; therefore the application process is pretty
rigorous. I had to write an essay, create a resume, and get three different
letters of recommendation, as well as keep my grades as high as possible. I
sent my application into the college the third week of August and was supposed
to find out before or on the first Friday of October, which did not happen.
To sidetrack
a little bit: my plan since entering the University a little over a year ago
has changed slightly. I no longer want to be a teacher right when I graduate,
but would absolutely LOVE the opportunity to become a Child Life Specialist and
work in a Children’s Hospital. In order to become a Child Life Specialist, you
either need to obtain a Child and Family Development Degree or go through a
special training program after obtaining a degree that relates to children in
some way. So an education degree would satisfy that requirement. However, by
getting my education degree, I would have to go through a little bit more work
to become a specialist, while if I got the other degree, I could do it right
away. This decision of which major I wanted to do did not become a thought in
my mind until after I had submitted my College of Education application, so
there was no way for me to change my major. It all depended on the decision
that was supposed to come out the first Friday of October, but it didn’t and
couldn’t help but be frustrated that I hadn’t found out yet.
Although I
want to do something besides teaching, my plan was to accept the acceptance and
continue with that degree if I got in. And if I didn’t, who knows what I will
do.
Through all
the waiting, this idea that God’s timing is better than what I may think has
been really weighing on my heart. I tend to get so caught up what I desire for
myself that I lose the perspective to really see what is good for me and my
future. But God sees it all and knows exactly what He wants for my life. And
although this is a tough concept to grasp, I have begun to come to terms with
it and realize that no matter how frustrated I get with waiting and not
knowing, God has got it all planned out and He knows and wants the best for His
sons and daughters here on earth. So whenever you get frustrated with what is
going on in your life, take a minute to look closely at the situation and try
and realize that God knows everything about it, meaning He knows and sees things
that you may not. This is so powerful because if we could make all our
decisions on our own, we would be in so much trouble because most of the time
we are only looking a small part of the bigger solution. God has the whole
solution and wants to give it to you because He wants to give you the BEST. Jesus Calling on October 5th said,
“If you make problem-solving secondary to the goal of living close to Me, you
can find Joy even in your most difficult days.” I feel that this goes along
perfectly with Mary and Martha. Instead of trying to solve the problem of their
brother being dead, they trust in Jesus and look where that gets them; they get
to see their brother again. How AMAZING is that?
Now I am
sure you are wondering what the decision was for whether or not I got admitted
into the college. I found out late last night that I was accepted into the
Early Childhood Education program at the University of Georgia! I am so excited
to see what this opportunity has in store for me and what a joy it was to wait
for this wonderful news! As I said earlier, God knows better and trusting Him
creates so much peace in your life.
God Bless
and have a great week!
