WEEK THREE - WRITE IT AND RUN AFTER IT
WEEK DAY DEVOTIONALS
Tuesday: Run Towards It
______________________
Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others."
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.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NLT)
Friend, are you in a season of waiting?
Derick and I had a pastor in Florida who would say: you’re in one of three places:
getting ready to walk into a hard season, in the middle of a hard one, or you’re on the other side.
With that in mind, I’ll change the verbiage …
Friend, are you in the middle of a waiting season? Did you just come out of one and now you’re on the other side of it? Maybe you, unknowingly, are getting ready to enter one.
If there is one thing we as living, breathing human beings can all relate to, it’s waiting. From the very moment of conception, life demands met needs. Like a baby growing in the womb, a newborn's life is dependent on another for survival. To be fed and satisfied. To be cared for tenderly in touch, clothing, temperature. To be seen, heard.
If any of the basic needs of hunger, thirst, and attention are not cared for, there is a cry of helplessness. A stark shrill of demand. Urgency. How long the infant waits for care will ultimately - positively or negatively - shape the bond he/she will have with this world and with the caregivers. If needs are being met with accuracy, loving kindness and tenderness, then the child will learn that his/her caregiver is safe, attentive, and trustworthy. If needs are prolonged, ignored, or avoided, the complete opposite happens: the infant learns that this world is unsafe, untrustworthy, with the bonding message of no one is going to come for me.
We each have different experiences of our earthly caregivers and the bonds we experienced as we grew. Our heavenly Father is loving, attentive, and tender. The Old Testament is a beautiful unfolding of how God yearns for His children: how He relentlessly pursues and desires to be in relationship with His created.
And yet, doesn’t waiting seem like neglect? Avoidance? Definitely a pause button on *my* plans, wants, desires. Waiting gives the vibes of being unheard, being unseen, and not being pursued. Defeat sets in. How quickly God and His plans get questioned, and that’s when the accuser enters: no one is coming for you. You’re alone. You have to figure this out on your own. It’s the tale as old as Genesis 3, “Did God really say …?” And as a result, questioning affects trustworthiness. What a quick spiral, unraveling who and what we believe about God.
None of us are exempt from waiting, none of us can sidestep the season. We can distract, for sure. God is a purposeful God: He has made everything beautiful for its own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Pauses create space … margin … stillness. It’s purposeful. It’s space only God can use, speak, create, and work in during those appointed times. Lessons and experiences that could only be learned in these waiting places. And here’s another kicker: sometimes it has nothing to do with you, it has everything to do with the work He
is doing in someone else’s life.
Oftentimes, it’s not the slowed pace that gets us, it’s the non-answers. I can wrap my head around the yes or around the no: it’s the unanswered that wears me down. If there’s anything I’ve learned in walking with the Lord, it’s how those seasons of non-answers widen and deepen my faith, the trustworthiness of God, the faithfulness and obedience of my Savior. It truly is a place of surrender because my weak attempt for control and solving gains little traction.
Wherever you find yourself today, may God be the lifter of your head and may you find solid footing on Truth. We were never meant to do life alone: from the very beginning, God saw it fit for Adam to have a friend and helper. May His reach extend beyond yourself and may He provide a community of Christ followers to bear witness to your season, to pray over you, offer support and encouragement, and to sit with you.
He is purposeful, He is accurate and right on time, and His ways are mysterious.
He is God Immanuel, God with you.
He is El Roi, the God who sees you.
He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
______________________
Lord,
May we be reminded of the truth of God’s character today and put You in Your rightful place: You are the One who initiates, sustains, and fulfills. You are in full control and authority. You know all things, see all things, hear all things. Nothing is hidden from Your sight. You are faithful. You are purposeful in Your timing … in the planting, tending, and harvesting seasons. Lord, I lift up the one who needs encouragement today: the one who is exhausted, alone, and filled with doubt. Would You come tenderly, Holy Spirit, and bring about a calm and peace to this weary soul? May he/she experience You in a fresh new wind to continue the path You have set before him/her. In all things, I will praise You and give You glory and honor. Lord, I know You are interceding on my behalf before the Father. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others."
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.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NLT)
Friend, are you in a season of waiting?
Derick and I had a pastor in Florida who would say: you’re in one of three places:
getting ready to walk into a hard season, in the middle of a hard one, or you’re on the other side.
With that in mind, I’ll change the verbiage …
Friend, are you in the middle of a waiting season? Did you just come out of one and now you’re on the other side of it? Maybe you, unknowingly, are getting ready to enter one.
If there is one thing we as living, breathing human beings can all relate to, it’s waiting. From the very moment of conception, life demands met needs. Like a baby growing in the womb, a newborn's life is dependent on another for survival. To be fed and satisfied. To be cared for tenderly in touch, clothing, temperature. To be seen, heard.
If any of the basic needs of hunger, thirst, and attention are not cared for, there is a cry of helplessness. A stark shrill of demand. Urgency. How long the infant waits for care will ultimately - positively or negatively - shape the bond he/she will have with this world and with the caregivers. If needs are being met with accuracy, loving kindness and tenderness, then the child will learn that his/her caregiver is safe, attentive, and trustworthy. If needs are prolonged, ignored, or avoided, the complete opposite happens: the infant learns that this world is unsafe, untrustworthy, with the bonding message of no one is going to come for me.
We each have different experiences of our earthly caregivers and the bonds we experienced as we grew. Our heavenly Father is loving, attentive, and tender. The Old Testament is a beautiful unfolding of how God yearns for His children: how He relentlessly pursues and desires to be in relationship with His created.
And yet, doesn’t waiting seem like neglect? Avoidance? Definitely a pause button on *my* plans, wants, desires. Waiting gives the vibes of being unheard, being unseen, and not being pursued. Defeat sets in. How quickly God and His plans get questioned, and that’s when the accuser enters: no one is coming for you. You’re alone. You have to figure this out on your own. It’s the tale as old as Genesis 3, “Did God really say …?” And as a result, questioning affects trustworthiness. What a quick spiral, unraveling who and what we believe about God.
None of us are exempt from waiting, none of us can sidestep the season. We can distract, for sure. God is a purposeful God: He has made everything beautiful for its own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Pauses create space … margin … stillness. It’s purposeful. It’s space only God can use, speak, create, and work in during those appointed times. Lessons and experiences that could only be learned in these waiting places. And here’s another kicker: sometimes it has nothing to do with you, it has everything to do with the work He
is doing in someone else’s life.
Oftentimes, it’s not the slowed pace that gets us, it’s the non-answers. I can wrap my head around the yes or around the no: it’s the unanswered that wears me down. If there’s anything I’ve learned in walking with the Lord, it’s how those seasons of non-answers widen and deepen my faith, the trustworthiness of God, the faithfulness and obedience of my Savior. It truly is a place of surrender because my weak attempt for control and solving gains little traction.
Wherever you find yourself today, may God be the lifter of your head and may you find solid footing on Truth. We were never meant to do life alone: from the very beginning, God saw it fit for Adam to have a friend and helper. May His reach extend beyond yourself and may He provide a community of Christ followers to bear witness to your season, to pray over you, offer support and encouragement, and to sit with you.
He is purposeful, He is accurate and right on time, and His ways are mysterious.
He is God Immanuel, God with you.
He is El Roi, the God who sees you.
He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
______________________
Lord,
May we be reminded of the truth of God’s character today and put You in Your rightful place: You are the One who initiates, sustains, and fulfills. You are in full control and authority. You know all things, see all things, hear all things. Nothing is hidden from Your sight. You are faithful. You are purposeful in Your timing … in the planting, tending, and harvesting seasons. Lord, I lift up the one who needs encouragement today: the one who is exhausted, alone, and filled with doubt. Would You come tenderly, Holy Spirit, and bring about a calm and peace to this weary soul? May he/she experience You in a fresh new wind to continue the path You have set before him/her. In all things, I will praise You and give You glory and honor. Lord, I know You are interceding on my behalf before the Father. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.