Be KnownSample

Waiting is hard. You would think it would get easier as an adult, but it doesn’t. We find ourselves older, and wiser, yet still trying to learn patience.

When we walk through the different seasons of our lives it can be so difficult to find our patience, hope, joy, and our peace in Jesus’ timing. We tend to want God to give us the breakthrough, right now, without doing any of the work. Instead of extracting the beauty in the process, we keep looking to the left and the right and wondering if there might be a faster way the Lord hasn’t thought of to get us from point a to point b. But it’s our willingness to be still in the season we’re in, keeping our eyes on Jesus that allows Him to do the work He needs to do in us, to prepare us for what’s next.

When Jesus called His disciples, they had no idea what those next three years were going to hold. At that moment, when they left their fishing boats, cast their nets aside and Jesus said He was going to make them fishers of men, I’m sure they never understood the weight of that statement.

Matthew 4:19 says, “And He said to them, “Follow Me [as my disciples, accepting Me as your Master and teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” AMP

Jesus used language the disciples would understand to open their eyes to the transformation that could happen if they chose to go where Jesus led. Following Him, they learned what it meant to wait patiently on the Lord and to put their hope and trust in Him that He would meet their needs. None of that would have happened if they hadn’t been moved by a willingness to accept Jesus’s invitation to come and experience everything He had for them.

Verse 20 goes on to say, “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].”

Immediately means, “at once, instantly, or without delay.”

Our desire to follow Jesus and chase after Him should always be without delay. But once we’re walking with Him, our priority should be to walk at His pace. After all, Jesus never traveled the roads expected of Him, leaving the disciples to trust and follow His lead.

God’s pace never changes. Only ours. He will never run faster or walk slower to keep up with you. We are the ones running circles around Jesus. We run ahead and then back to tell Jesus, ‘Come on, hurry up, let’s go, don’t you want to see what’s up ahead.’ Then we run off to the left or to the right and circle back again to tell Jesus to come and join us at our pace. Finally, we tire ourselves out and that’s where Jesus meets us, still walking at the same pace.

When we begin to keep His pace, we begin to experience what is happening around us. We are present in the season we’re in, ready to learn from Him. To wait on Him and to find our joy in Him. He wants us to press in.

Today, I want to invite you into a deeper relationship with Jesus starting right where you are. I pray that the Lord spoke to your heart and confirmed His promises for you. As you experience a breakthrough, I pray He gives you a heart that desires to serve others and build up His kingdom.

Jesus, teach me to have a willing heart to be used by you in every season I’m in. Remind me that there’s no season of life that you choose to bench me from serving you, only ones where I count myself out. Help me to put my trust in you. Give me patience, hope, and joy in every season. Amen.