WAIT FOR GOD...

Yesterday God taught me a very valuable lesson, and a rather humbling one at that too.

I received an e-mail from my very dear friend and she was asking for a little relationship advice. Attached too was a letter she had written to another friend explaining the whole situation. I immediately jumped in with both feet and proceeded to tell her what I thought and felt - without even stopping to consider what the Lords thoughts on the situation were. I blundered on and got quite carried away. And, priding myself on the fact that I will not tell someone who asks me for my advice "what they want to hear" and I will also never "sugar coat the truth" I knew (hmph) that what I was telling her was my "I think" and was therefore correct. It was in NO way Spirit led or filled and I was quite nasty and cold in the way I told her what I thought.
When her reply came back - I instantly knew I had blundered. I sought the Lord very quickly and asked His forgiveness and then asked hers in return for being so thoughtless.
I then very gently and carefully proceeded to tell her what the Lord had laid on my heart to tell her. And I have to say His message was VERY different to mine. It was gentle and loving and encouraging, it was not forceful and demanding and commanding. I felt awful and very humbled.
My friend being the sweet loving person she is holds no grudges and told me that because she knows I care so much for her, she understands - phew!!

A little while later I was reading that little book called "Lord, Change ME!" and the author Evelyn Christenson had written the following piece:

"I Think
What I think really isn't very impressive according to God's Word. There is only one Truth, and that is God Himself. And the only absolute truth on which we can depend for the right kind of changes in our lives is found only in God's Word (John 17:17).
We have a rule about this at our house. Last summer I overheard two of our children discussing it: '"Mother always said truth is truth. It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. And not believing it has nothing to do with the fact that it is truth, and it will not change from being truth just because we choose not to believe it."
Yes whether or not I agree with something has nothing to do with whether or not it is true. My "I think"about a subject niether negates it nor insures its being true.
But we are so prone to believe our "I thinks" are very important. Many times what is billed as Bible Study turns out to be an exchange of our "I thinks". We read the Scripture portion and, using it as a springboard, dive immediately into the inner pool of our "I Thinks" and begin a discussion of whatever comes to our minds. When we are finished telling what we think about the subject other class members usually retain what they think and I keep what I think. It may have been a great discussion, but no one acquired any new truth.
A rule for Bible Study that assures us of getting wisdom from the only wothy Source, God Himslef, is that we don't discuss anything that is not answered in the portion of Scripture being studied on a given day. The teacher, and hopefully the the pupils, will have studied the actual meaning of the text and the answers no longer will be the participants "I Think" but Gods Word. Then we know that the changes we make in our lives based on that lesson are not from the "I Thinks" of people but from God Himself.

However, this does not mean that we cannot learn from each other. Sharing can be a profitable source of wisdom - if the wisdom shared is from a worthy source. If the source has been what God taught the person, then the sharing will be profitable indeed. If the teacher says: "I Think" the pupil may well respond "So What?" And the same holds true when a teacher verbalises his or her own feelings. They are not grounds for expecting or demanding in the pupil. But when the teacher's source of wisdom has come from God, then the "I Thinks" becomes positive wisdom.

I would retype the entire chapter here for you if I had the time - it was amazing! This was exactly what I was doing. I was giving my "I Thinks" and expecting my friend to be changed or to grow from it - but God was not the source of what I was telling her - it was my own feelings and her reponse although she didn't say it, in her heart I know it was "So What?"

Now I know we all make mistakes, and sometimes I believe God allows me to make blunders like this so that He can teach me that I can do nothing apart from Him. (John 15:5) Because I can be very stubborn at times and will insist on doing things my way and then learning the hard way. Thank goodness my friend didn't listen to me when I was giving her my own personal "I Thinks" - it could have caused her much pain and anguish. And thank God for showing me my error and then for pointing it out so very clearly in this wonderful book I am reading. It was just such a confirmation of what I had learned, and God was simply cementing it into my heart so that I will not make the same mistake again. He is so faithful!!

I learned a valuable lesson of Wating For God and using Him as my source of truth and wisdom and not just diving in with my own thoughts and feelings when somebody dear to me comes to me for guidance.

Wait For God - this phrase never meant so much to me in my life as it does today.