Learning To Wait and Listen For God

Welcome back!

     Last night and this morning God spoke to me through my evening devotions and a vlog (video blog) of my favorite youtubers this morning when I woke up.
     My evening devotions at the moment are in the form of a prayer related to the life of a teenager, and taking situations we may face and asking God to help us deal with them or remain focused on God. It's called "Prayers For A Teenager" or something like that. . .
     Anyways, last night the devotional was about "my best friend getting the guy I wanted," and when I read this I was honestly rather surprised. This sort of relates to a recent situation that took place a few months ago with my best friend and someone I do not talk to anymore. I wasn't sure how to react to this. The devotional went on to talk about jealousy of this "relationship" between these two friends. Obviously this whole devotional didn't apply to me in the exact terms it was written it, but the key to successfully receiving from a devotional is to dig deep into it and figure out a way to apply it correctly to your life. So I decided to take the jealousy aspect and apply it to my life right now.
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     While I am not usually an overly jealous person, I have noticed lately that I've started to envy other people's fake lives. . . What do I mean about fake lives? Allow me to explain.
     We see so many posts about people's lives on social media, and what can be dangerous about this is that everyone gets to choose what to show the world.
     A day at the beach? Instagram it. Enjoying a fun date with a boyfriend or best friend? Snapchat it. Suffering from a laugh attack? Facebook it. - - - - Having a really hard time adjusting to life away from home? Feeling absolutely torn inside? Being in a relationship that is actually very upsetting? Keep it to yourself. Don't let anyone know.
     This is the way social media works. When we start to envy someone's life based on what we see from social media, we have no idea what goes on behind the camera or status updates. I've come to realize the importance of being real, without going overboard with people. While it is important to do your best to find the positives in life, and it's also important to reach out to friends for help when you need it and never try to act like you have it all together, but at the same time there can be too much of either side.
     I've been having a hard time not envying the college freshman I see at their new campuses posting pictures with their new friends and having a girl's night of pizza and movies in their dorm room. Or all the exploring they post about doing both on campus and around the town. Or the way they seem to have everything together, both emotionally and spiritually. They may seem to always have a smile on their face, and they are always posting pictures of having successful Bible Study evenings with other close friends. But who really knows if they've always got a smile on their face? and who knows if they feel as close to God as they seem to be? Without knowing the entire story, it is very dangerous to envy on social media. Or ever, to be honest. We see in the 10 commandments that we are not to covet what our neighbor has, whether that's a physical item or the smile they wear on their face.
     God has given us exactly what we need when we need it. If we want something else that someone has it means we are not content with the way God has us right now. That must break God's heart when we are not happy with what He gives us. It's like watching a friend open a birthday present we saved up for forever to buy them, and they absolutely hate it. . . That just crushes you, doesn't it? It's the same concept, only magnified, when we are not content with what God gives us. I understand this is not always easy, but like I said before, God gives exactly what we need when we need it, we need only be patient.
     Patience. A trait I lack greatly in my life. I want to have a recording studio. I want to be a christian counselor who impacts the lives of others. I want to get to my new college in the fall so I can start experiencing adult life. I want to meet an amazing, Godly man and marry him. I want a family. I want to leave behind a legacy of trusting and following God to everyone I knew when I'm gone.
     But God either has chosen not to give me some of these things, or He's chosen to give them to me way later in life. Patience. I have a feeling I'll have learned to apply this trait to my life better by the time I'm in my 70s. . .
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     This morning when I was browsing my youtube subscriptions, I saw a vlog of a married couple I love watching, who just had their first baby. (Carlos and Alexa Penavega and their new son Ocean King- Their youtube name is LexLovesLos)
     At the end of every vlog they like to do what they call a "WOW." (Words Of Wisdom) This morning Alexa's WOW was to learn to wait for God. He answers our prayers right when we need Him to, and in the way that He knows best. She talked about spending many mornings in their prayer room a year ago praying for certain things, and within the last month she has seen these prayers being answered. She said that it's all just about learning to listen for God's voice and waiting on His timing. His voice is evident in our everyday lives, we just need to learn to listen for it and understand it. His timing is perfect. Never has God ever been too early or late with giving His children what He wants them to have.
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     Lately I've been praying for confidence in my spiritual life, strength to carry on throughout the storms life brings, and also for wisdom in how to carry out handling my feelings. As I grow and mature in my faith, it has become top priority for me to find a man who loves God above all else. Well, there is someone I have become friends with who radiates God, and I love that. I love how they seek to serve God and show God to those he comes into contact with in everyday life. The difficult part? Waiting to hear from God on how I need to handle this situation. Should I talk to this guy about what I've been praying about? Should I continue to wait and see if he does anything, first? This is the hard part of listening for God's voice and waiting on His timing. We don't get to decide what God wants us to do, and we definitely don't get to decide when He gives us the things we want.
     Another thing I try really hard to remind myself is that, when I want something so badly, or really want it to work out with someone, I may become biased to what I want to hear from God. Yes, this happens. Don't try to deny it. If I want God to tell me to go ahead and seek out a relationship with this guy, I may try to convince myself that when I hear God saying one thing it really meant another thing. I hope that makes sense, because it's such a problem and it's definitely happening all over the place. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about this to be honest, that almost scares me. As I've learned to listen for God's voice, I look back at many times I almost did the wrong thing because "God told me to go for it" or whatever it may have been, when really I just thought this thing was so important that I went on my own will power.
     My not-in any way-professional advice? Make sure your prayers are sincere and your heart truly wants to hear what God has to say. Don't allow your jealousy to contradict how you live your life right now. And don't jump the gun and think God is saying "now is the time" when you're really just too impatient to wait for God's ever-faithful and perfectly-timed sign that now is the time we have been waiting for.
     We may think we know what we need and when we need it, but really, God is the only one who knows exactly what we need and when He should give it to us.
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     I hope this post was an encouragement to you. I know I sometimes feel like as I write God is allowing me to see it through new eyes as I go back and proof-read my words. Sometimes I have an all new insight and feel inspired or encouraged to write something else, or do something today that I have been putting off or praying about.
     Never stop seeking. Never stop praying. and Never stop trusting that God knows what to do and when to do it.
     God is ever-faithful. Just trust Him!

     "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6

God bless!
Sarah