There are no Shortcuts

     
We come to resent the process.  Longing to find a short cut.  Wanting to forgo this leg of the journey.  It's uncomfortable and HARD.  Sometimes painful and exhausting.  Grief.  Transition. Unforeseen circumstances.....everyday LIFE.  We try to navigate around what we are supposed to journey THROUGH.  
     
     These were my thoughts this morning as I tried my hardest to find a way to AVOID the car rider line at my daughter's school.  I conjured up shortcuts in my mind trying to find a way around it all.  I decided at long last.....I had to do as all the other mothers had to do.  Wait.  
 

When life gets uncomfortable the last thing we want to do is endure. We become restless and agitated and long to be ANYwhere but HERE.  WAITING.

WAITING takes courage. 

WAITING when things get uncomfortable.  WAITING when things don't turn out the way we expected them to.  WAITING when things get hard.

You may not necessarily appreciate it now but what God is doing today is preparation for tomorrow. He's always one step ahead of you. 
It's in those moments we have to remind ourselves.....

God is here too.
God is at work.
Preparing.  Reshaping.  Undoing things that needed to be undone.
Confirming things that needed to be confirmed.  Sharpening our focus and shaping our vision.  Fueling our faith and passion.  There is work to be done in the waiting. 
 

I have learned the secret to LIVING.  Really living.
CONTENTMENT.  
Finding the JOY in every moment. 
Discerning the seasons and surrendering to whatever the Lord may be doing in that moment.
There is a time to be silent and listen.
A time to speak.
A time to live and a time to die
A time to move and a time to just be still.
A time to build up and a time to tear down.
And there is a time for WAITING.
Sometimes it's uncomfortable.  Sometimes it's hard. But He is  always moving you forward into that hope and future He planned for you long ago.
Peace will come when you can surrender to {NOW} knowing that He is just as present and at work {HERE} as He is tomorrow.  
He is just as much HERE as He is THERE.  
There are no shortcuts.
You cannot navigate around those things you must go through. 
We must endure.  

But Praise GOD He stands with us and gives us strength when we become weary. 
All we need to do is look to Jesus....who endured the hardest thing and know that THIS moment though a necessary thing.....is temporary.

Hebrews 12:3 keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!