Nothing New About Staying

One morning this week, I was reading in Exodus about when God was telling the Israelites how to build the Ark of the Covenant. And I was skimming over all the detailed and intricate instructions that God was giving them. Because after all, I'm not a builder and I could really care less how long and wide and deep things were being measured. But even while I was skimming, my mind began to wander a tad bit and I heard the Lord whispering some truth to me. Something about the fact that He hasn't stopped giving detailed and intricate instructions - I'm just not staying long enough to listen to them or being  patient enough to pay attention to them. It kinda stopped me up short.

You see, if you don't know me very well, I tend to be a pretty impatient person. I have a difficult time just sitting around waiting. And that is something that even in my mid 50's, I still struggle with. One would think that One could learn to wait and be patient about it. Yes, One would think that but I am still not that One. I'm getting better at it, but still...who really has time to sit around and wait when One could be up and doing something about it all.

So.....God has had me in a "resting" place since July of last year. And, after all I don't want to be lazy. And really, shouldn't I be all rested up by now?  So getting back to this "staying" to hear ALL the instructions.  Whenever God lays out a plan for me - I tend to hear or see the big picture and I'm like "yeah, let's do this" and I get all excited and I jump up and begin to run with it and figure out all the details as we go. But this time, God is saying, I want you to learn how to stay and hear and learn all the instructions. He keeps sitting me back down on my butt.  I'm taking baby steps towards this new plan that He's laying out for me. Within each step, I'm only taking by instruction, which is different and new for me. And it's requiring a whole lot of patience, but perhaps I'm "old" enough to learn this time around.

And as the snow continues to fall and sit on top of all the life that is happening underneath, so I am learning to enjoy the beauty of staying and listening to all the instructions before I run off. At least, the instructions that He's wanting me to learn. There are details and instructions that He gives as I'm building and doing but there are blueprints to be made and pictures to take and steps to learn. And if I want something to be built correctly, I need to begin correctly with a sturdy foundation. So what I'm building will stand strong and true. So I'm staying until He tells me that I'm done staying.