T.C. Avey's Blog, page 10

Are You Dating God or Married to Him?

Think back to when you were a teen. Did you ever have a crush on someone you barely knew? 
Someone you thought was totally awesome and you pictured yourself VERY happy dating them?
From afar they looked perfect, they acted perfect, they made you feel perfect and you couldn’t image anyone being more perfectly suited for you?
Then something happens…you get to KNOW them.
And suddenly there are dents in your dreams; the image of who you created them to be doesn’t match reality. 
This person ISN’T perfect. 
And they don’t make you feel perfect.
So you wonder if maybe there’s someone else better for you, someone who can meet your mental image.
I think perhaps this is what we do with God.
We have a little knowledge of Him.
We see Him from afar and we like what we see.
We also like what we hear about Him.
He heals the sick, He gives eternal life, He forgives all your mistakes, etc. The list of how awesome He is sounds wonderful.
You can really see yourself liking this God. 
But then something happens.
He doesn’t act the way you THINK He should.
He doesn’t answer a prayer in a timely manner.
He convicts you of a sin you really enjoy.
Also, being a follower of His isn’t as popular as you thought.
Suddenly you wonder if maybe you made a mistake in this whole “Christianity” thing.
Maybe you were wrong, this isn’t the right God for you. Maybe you need to find one better suited to you needs.
Two passages of Scripture come to mind when I think of this: 
The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-22 and Christ’s response to John the Baptist in Matthew 11:6, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Many get offended by God.
He doesn’t act like we think He should.
He allows horrible things to happen.
He waits when we need Him to act.
Bob Sorge tells Christians what they SHOULD do when God doesn’t fit their ideal image of Him in chapter 14 of “The Fire of Delayed Answers”, 
“I will not adjust my theology to accommodate my experience…I will not adapt my expectations or faith stand or view of God’s word because I’m still not healed... Instead, I’m going after God with everything I’ve got.” (pg 216)
We can’t treat God as if He’s human. We can’t have an idea in our heads about who He is and how He should act and then completely toss Him aside when He doesn’t fit our mold. He isn’t someone we date in High School.
He is God.
He deserves respect.
He also deserves us to get to know Him.
How do we know who He is or how He acts if we only have a foggy and/or make believe picture of Him in our heads?
We must spend time in His love letter to us (BIBLE). Fall in love with Him. Know His promises.
Yes, there will be times that your life experiences don’t match up with certain Scriptures. You may not be healed instantly; you might have to go through some hard times. But when situations like this occur, don’t turn you back on God. Press in closer.
If you were married to the love of your life for fifteen years and then one day they did something that really hurt you or bothered you, I doubt you’d call it quits. I hope you wouldn’t seek a divorce. Instead, I hope you would make every effort to work it out. 
You need to put that type of commitment and persistence into seeking God, especially when He isn’t acting as you think He should.
The Bible promises us that when we seek Him, we will find Him. Luke 11:9-13
Don’t give up on God…He will never give up on you.
Know the His Word, so like David, you can say with confidence, 
"I would have lost heart, unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13 NKJV
Join the Book club discussion of, “ The Fire of Delayed Answers ” by Bob Sorge. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason , Sarah , Dusty , Kari , Glynn ,  and Joell .

The Precipice- Quote 1

" It started out so innocent. But most horrid things do."
 The Precipice: When Everything We Know Ends
By
TC Avey
 COMING SOON! 

Look for it on Amazon April 7, 2014
If you haven't joined my Launch Team and would like to, please email me at tnc.avey@gmail.com

Sometimes God WANTS You to Fail

I’ve failed.
Numerous times.
Sometimes it seems God brings me to the same test and I keep failing it. 
This can be frustrating and discouraging.  
I find myself asking, “ Will I ever get it right? Why am I still so immature in my faith? How come I can’t trust God more?” 
In Chapter 13 of “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Sorge, I find hope for my repeated failures in a story about Peter.
Peter had really messed up.
He denied Christ 3 times! 
Jesus knew Peter was going to blow it but FAILING was the whole point.
The test wasn’t about “passing”; it was about Peter realizing his love for Christ wasn’t as strong as he’d thought.
 “The Lord wants to know if we love Him, or if we love a Jesus of our own mental creation…He’s saying to us, “I know you love Me when I bless you... But will you still love Me, even if I halt the blessings to your life and allow some troubles to touch you?”” (pg 203)
Daily my love for God is tested as frustrations rise up and choke out my praise. I want deliverance! God wants my heart so He tests me.The tests aren’t about me “passing”, they’re about me realizing I need God more than I need “deliverance”. 
 “The purpose of the test was fulfilled when Peter failed. The Lord wanted to break Peter of his self-reliance so that he would learn to depend on God for everything. He came to realize that he couldn’t even love without Christ’s help.” (pg 204)
Like Peter, I need to learn nothing is about me. It’s all about God. About Him IN me. I can’t even love, pray, believe, or obey on my own! I need God for all of it! 
Sorge postulates that many Christians are in a “love test” but they’re responding as they would to a “faith test”, this is causing frustration and confusion for them.
“”Do you love ME?”…He’s (God) allowing them to come into severe crisis, and instead of responding to any of the methodologies they learned in the faith test, He’s watching them struggle in the midst of their confusion…He’s wanting to determine if they’ll remain true in their love or if they’ll get offended and turn away from Him….He wants to bring us to the place where nothing else matters, just as long as we know He loves us.” (pg 204)
God loves you, my friend.
Cling to His love.
Don’t worry if your faith isn’t big enough. 
This isn’t about you. It’s about God IN you, and His faith IS big enough…so is His love. 
But is your love for Him big enough to cling to Him when it feels as if He doesn’t care? 
Again, don’t worry if your love isn’t big enough.
He will stretch your heart gently as possible, so that through the fire, you will learn to love Him the way He loves you- unconditionally. 
And don’t worry if you “fail” a test, sometimes failing is exactly what God wants for you.
With God it’s not about “passing” or “failing”, it’s about growing.
Join the Book club discussion of, “ The Fire of Delayed Answers ” by Bob Sorge. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason , Sarah , Dusty , Kari , Glynn ,  and Joell .

Call for Help: Join My Launch Team

I’m pausing this week’s Book Club discussion on “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Bob Sorge to announce BIG News:I’m in need of a LAUNCH TEAM!
 Can’t believe I just wrote that! So Exciting!
Anyway, I’ve finally done it. I’ve self published a book.
The Precipice: When Everything We Know Ends is a compilation of three short stories designed to help you evaluate your walk with Christ and examine where you place your trust. While the stories are thought provoking and fictional, they aren’t too far from reality. Each story is coupled with Modern Events to show how unstable our world is. This is combined with Discussion Questions that aide you in assessing what you would do in similar situations, as well as help you contemplate how you can begin changing your life and world today. 
The Release Date for set for April 7, 2014
I need your help to spread the word. 
So I’m asking you to join my Launch Team!
The Precipice is a fast read and will not take up much of your time. 
What I’m asking for those on the Launch Team:
 Read The Precipice and leave an honest Review on Amazon.com (and/or GoodReads.com) preferably the first week it releases. But I know everyone is stretched on time, so a review anytime is greatly appreciated.  Spread the word and promote the book anyway you can, especially the first few weeks it is out. Ideas include:  Interview me the week prior to the official release and/or anytime afterward  Allow me to Guest Post on your blog and tell about my book  Publish your own honest review of my book on your site, blog, Facebook page or other social media outlets  Write a post inspired by the book and share it on your site/blog  Share about my book on any of your social media outlet(s). Use your own creativity to have fun and help a newbie author out
Benefits for joining the Launch Team:
The Precipice Free  Free book bonuses which I will send you. Thank you mention on my blog (including link to your site/blog) shortly after the book releases Satisfaction of knowing you helped me spread a message God has placed on my heart for each believer in Christ
I can’t do this without you. If you can help in anyway, large or small, please email me at tnc.avey@gmail.com or contact me via Twitter @TCAvey1

It's Possible, Book Review

Dave Arnold from Reflections from the Alleyjust released a new book, It’s Possible. 
This book has the potential to change your life into something more meaningful. It shows you that ANYTHING is possible. 
Without spoiling the book, let me try and explain:
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The sky’s the limit?”
As kids, we believed that.
We dreamed BIG.
But as we aged, we replaced those dreams with more practical goals…things that seemed more attainable…things that required less sacrifice…things that were less than what we were created to be.
We are each created with unique qualities that help us to fulfill the God-made purposes for our lives. God has a plan for you, a plan that involves all the corky characteristics that make you, you.
As I read Dave’s book I found myself saying, “I’m guilty of this”, “I’ve felt this way”, and “So that’s what God was saying to me”.
I have two college degrees that I currently don’t use.
And while they seem vastly different (BA in Criminal Justice and RN,) they both catered to my unique wiring. 
Both areas I choose to work in required me to use critical thinking, to do research, and to help people. I went into specialized areas inside those professions because they required the things I liked to do and also excelled at. They enabled me to use my God-given talents. 
And while I enjoyed them, neither satisfied my soul. I wasn’t content. I always thought there was more I was supposed to be doing. 
 It wasn’t until God brought me to the end of me, that I began to see a different plan intended for my life.
I still don’t have it all figured out. 
But I do know It’s Possible to do more than what I had previously settled for.
It’s possible to dream Big and have God use me.
In God’s hands, anything is possible.
But you and I have to trust Him. Dave’s book helped me and I believe it will help you begin to take a closer look at your life. 
It's Possible will help you see:
1.        Who you are.2.        What you were created to do.3.        What plans God has for you.
Anything is possible.
I encourage you to give this book a try.
It’s short, yet powerful.
Click here to purchase It’s Possible. 

Disclaimer:  I was given this book and asked to do an honest review. I did not have to give a good review, but I found it easy to endorse this book.

I Can't Manipulate God

Chapter 12 of “The Fire of Delayed Answers” spoke to me. 
I’m the prodigal son- demanding to get what I believe is owed me…deliverance from this waiting period! 
I find myself thinking, “Hasn’t this gone on long enough? What more do you want from me, God?”  As I wait, I stumble between surrender and taking matters into my own hands.
Today, I found myself prostrate, crying out, “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t”.
I can’t do anything to fix this problem.
I can’t do anything to make time go faster.
I can’t do anything…but wait.
There’s no magic formula to praying that will make God MOVE.
So as I wait, I reflect back on God’s goodness in my life and in the lives of others.
I also take comfort in knowing God understands, that’s why He brought me this book.
It’s helping me understand that my lack of faith, my inability to surrender, and my impatience don’t make God any less gracious.
He will answer my prayers.
He will bring deliverance. 
It’s just a matter of time…HIS time.
Not  mine.
Here’s a few quotes helping me through my fire.
“…when it comes to waiting we all blow it…none of us is capable of handling waiting properly…by the time God’s finished with us, we’ve blown it so many times … We realize that His redemptive work in us was not because of our right responses, but only because of His mercy.”  (pg 181)
I’m not unique in my inability to wait. God has dealt with a multitude of people like me. God is merciful. He doesn’t give us what we deserve. He gives us grace to endure, strength to carry on, and a harvest of blessings to those who learn “to wait” upon Him and are willing to give Him the glory due his name.
“When I invoke the promises of God as my just claim, I am not being arrogant; I am not being presumptuous; I am not being audacious or insolent…I cross over into presumption when I try to tell God when and how to fulfill His promises in my life.” (pg 182)
God does not change. He is good, just, loving, wise, creator, etc. I need to trust that. Trust Him. I shouldn’t rush His work in my life. I must be pruned on or be cut off (Luke 13:6-9) and pruning takes time.
“If there’s unbelief in our hearts, there’s no fire that’s better at bringing that to the surface than having to wait.” (pg 183)
Waiting shows me how often I turn to human resources and common sense to solve problems. My trust in God is small. He is doing a BIG work in my life and this waiting season is the answer to my hearts prayer for “MORE OF HIM”. God comes in the fire and He comes in the stillness. I can’t accept one without the other. When we are saved we get all of God, not just certain parts.
“We tend to put our focus on the wrong thing…”If I can only have enough faith, I know I’ll be healed.” Instead of seeking faith, seek the face of God.” (pg 186)
Like Moses I must say, “Show me your glory.” When I seek more of God, the pain of the fire begins to fade. The time constraints fall and my will is transformed.
“…sometimes God does wait till past midnight.” (pg 190)
I can’t put God in a box, thinking He has to answer my prayers in a certain way or time frame. While my mind knows this, it isn’t until I am forced to wait that I realize just how selfish I am. I want my answers in my way and my timing. 
God wants more for me.
So He delays answering and I learn to benefit from the wait. 
What about you, are you learning to wait?
Join the Book club discussing, “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Bob Sorge, by either grabbing a copy of the book and joining the weekly discussions and/or leaving a comment below. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason, Sarah, Dusty, Kari, Glynn, and Joell.

Guest Post: Pretend You're Married to Jesus

I'm taking some much needed R&R time with my family this week. Graciously one of my favorite bloggers, Sheila from Longings End, is sharing her wisdom through another beautiful post. Happy Valentines. Enjoy and I'll see you next week.John 3:16-17
Pretend you’re married to Jesus…
It is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness.
George MacDonald, Phantastes
What if married couples took this to heart?
What might the union, the family and eventually society look like?
How might loving your mate more than wanting to be loved work out in day to day living?
And what would happen if you really believed that everything you did to your spouse you did to Jesus?
These are all questions worth prayerfully pondering if you want to grow in love, learning daily to love like the Lord does.
In the beginning…
God. 
Us loving because He loved us first.
And you can’t love another more than you love yourself unless you love God most.
You won’t be able to lay aside your selfishness until you understand and appreciate His great sacrifice for you.
And your love relationship with the Lover of your soul needs to constantly grow, changing over time as He changes you – and me – for the better.
Spending time with God helps us become more like Him. Not only in prayer, Bible reading or Sunday services, but in every moment of every day being so consciously connected that He truly is closer than your next heartbeat.
Seeing Him in everything and giving thanks for it all, especially your spouse. He has given you the perfect imperfect partner to help perfect imperfect you. 
Mirror image…
Often what you don’t like in your husband or wife is merely a version of the same sin in you. Like can attract like.
But instead of casting stones, love your spouse enough to keep no record of wrongs nor hold onto a bad attitude. 
Instead love them as if they were Jesus Christ Himself right there in front of you, wet towel on the floor and all. And when she blows the budget on a grocery store sale pretend it’s Jesus with the empty pocketbook. 
Do unto others as you would have it done to you and always remember that Jesus said whatever you do unto the least of these brethren of mine you do to Me.
Closing the gap…
You will come nearest the soul of your spouse as you continue in loving them more than asking for their love. And of course it works best when both husband and wife feel this way.
So try to outdo each other in practicing the deeds of love as laid out in 1 Corinthians 13.
This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love never fails.
As you practice loving God’s way you will find joy in giving more than in taking or demanding love and you will see that as one-flesh partners if you hurt your spouse you will hurt yourself.
It is so easy to be selfish but it takes discipline, determination and devotion to God to lay down self for the sake of one’s marriage, putting your partner first. 

And Jesus came that we might have abundance including in our marriages. But the only way to win it is by being in it. Consistently abiding in Him, reading and studying His life-giving word, and giving your life away so that His way has precedence.
 
Day by day…

In marriage a husband or wife must choose to lay down selfishness in order to lift up God by putting their spouse first.
Maybe he really likes a particular meal, but she doesn’t and cooking it is not something she readily wants to do. She does it anyway asking God to change her heart so that she can prepare and serve it graciously.
Or perhaps she can’t sleep at night because something is troubling her and her mind keeps racing. He thinks it’s a tad irrelevant but listens to her heart and keeps himself from getting impatient even though he really needs to sleep so he can be alert for work in the morning 
In each example it was by loving the other more than oneself, that the marriage moved forward, the relationship strengthened and God was glorified.
Together at the banquet …
Each morning my Michael and I take our first bites of daily bread together. At our breakfast table, verses from 1 Corinthians 13 or Ephesians 4 are standard fare along with a portion from the gospels. 
You can grow your marriage up into all God wants it to be by doing the same, tasting together and seeing that the Lord is good.
Reading and re-reading certain scriptures helps us remember and learn to love like God loves us.
And it sweetens our marriage.
So with love in the air this Valentine’s week, but more so every day all year long, why not commit to spending time daily with your spouse and Jesus learning what love really is.
And then loving your spouse more…
~sheila
All our longings end in love.
Sheila Kimball is the author of Heart Cry : 40 Reflections for a Woman’s Soul (2013). She offers C2: Comfort and Conversation for women, and with her writing-partner husband Michael Kimball provides life coaching for men, women and married couples. Longings End is their faith-filled blog focused on love’s healing power and tips for making marriages better. For more information, visit LongingsEnd.com and LongingsEndCoaching.com. A free copy of her eBook, BREAKOUT Manifesto: When you’re ready to break free of brokenness is available when you subscribe to Longings End.

Wounds Won't Last Forever

In Chapter 11 of “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Bob Sore, we get a glimpse of his journal entries as he went through a very difficult time in his life.
“I don’t see God’s promises as just offers of blessing, but as expressions of His character and person, expressions of who He is and how He has chosen to relate to man. So to let go of God’s promises is a denial of who He is; it is a rejection of His character and His intentions toward me…He leads through valleys, but always through, never just into .” (pg 162)
If you’re feeling wounded and waiting for healing, Don’t Give Up.
Keep waiting. 
To deny that God is good is to deny that He is going to deliver you from whatever it is coming against you.
Don’t let go of who God is.
He is a “man of his word.” 
He will bring you through the valley.
Just remember, you can’t go AROUND the valley. You have to go THROUGH it.
Like Sorge says, He hasn’t brought you to the valley to leave you there. You will come out of it. The delays in deliverance are for our good. To ready the soil of our hearts for whatever it is God is planting.
“It’s God’s will to heal you, to provide your financial needs, and to answer all your prayers that are according to His will, but sometimes He delays the answer in order to work a greater surrender in our hearts.” (pg 172)
God is more concerned with YOU than with situations. He wants to mature YOU, not simply do another miracle.
One thing I really like about this book is how Sorge explains that Jesus didn’t seem to get excited about performing miracles. He just did them and went on about His Father’s business.
God can do ANYTHING. 
He performs miracles all the time… and He will do so for you too.
Delaying answers isn’t to punish you or because He isn’t capable to doing more, it’s because He is God and He sees the bigger picture.
Trust Him.
The Valley won’t last forever.
You will get through this.
“He hasn’t wounded me to leave me wounded.” (pg 162)
Join the Book club discussing, “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Bob Sorge, by either grabbing a copy of the book and joining the weekly discussions and/or leaving a comment below. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason, Sarah, Dusty, Kari, Glynn, and Joell.

Tempted Like Me

Lately, I’m struggling to have Inner peace. 
I LONG for rest, but my soul is in turmoil.
I can’t seem to surrender these feelings of frustration, to trust in God’s timing, and I’m unsure why.
So I’m doing all I know to do:  I press into God’s Word.
At first my hearts cry was, “ Show the answer. What am I supposed to do?”
When that was met with silence, my heart began saying, “ What’s the next step? Just tell me what to do next .”
Finally I said, “ Show me YOU .”
And God led me to Hebrews 4-5.
Verses on REST and BELIEF jumped out. 
Yes, Unbelief keeps me from entering the Rest provided for me in the Cross. I can REST because Christ did all the work. All I have to do is Believe in God’s promises.
That’s encouraging, but it didn’t quiet my soul. 
The waves crashed in as my heart cried for MORE.

“ God, show me more . I need more help.”
Then I began to mediate on the verses about Christ being tempted as we are…yet without sin.
He was tempted as I am now?
Tempted to be frustrated with God’s timing? Tempted to vent to anyone who will listen? Tempted to take matters into His own hands? Tempted to run away and hide? Tempted to be mad at God? Tempted to lash out at the unfairness of life? Tempted to fear He wasn’t enough? Tempted to fear God was asking too much of Him? Tempted to settle for “good” instead of God’s plan? Tempted to be human?
I believe God’s Word to be true. Therefore, Christ must have been tempted with these types of emotions.
Though it’s not written as I just did, there are stories in the Bible we can look at and infer that Christ was tempted like you and I.
Examples:
1.        Christ was ready at a young age to begin His ministry, yet He wasn’t baptized until He was a grown man and THEN He began His short ministry. (Luke 2:41-52, Luke 3:21-22). That must have been frustrating. Being a child, full of wisdom, but not yet ready to step into the role He was created to fulfill. I wonder if He ever listened to the “Bible Scholars” of His day and pondered how they could be so wrong. As He left childhood, I wonder if He asked God “is now the time to start? People were being deceived. Shouldn’t He begin sooner rather than later? He knew the Word better than them. They needed Him. Why couldn’t He begin now?” Was Christ TEMPTED to rush God’s timing?
2.       I could give link after link of times Jesus was probably TEMPTED to lose his temper with the lack of faith in His disciples. They got scared of a storm and woke Him. They wanted to send crowds away to get food instead of trusting in Jesus to feed them. They couldn’t cast a demon out. A few wanted to sit on His right and left hand. You get the picture. Jesus was probably TEMPTED to act how we would when our patience is stretched thin. He might have even been TEMPTED to shout at them, to vent to someone, to throw up His hands and call it quits.

3.       Hours before His arrest, He asked three disciples (friends) to pray with Him, but they fell asleep. He was in agony and they fell asleep. (Matt 26:36-44) It would be easy for Him to think, “Some friends they are”. Christ may have been TEMPTED to be upset with them. To give into despair and feel utterly alone. He may have been TEMPTED to lash out at them…or God. Why would God want Him to face these last moments alone? Couldn’t He have just one friend for a little longer? His emotions were high. It would have been easy to let them go unchecked…just for a moment.
4.       As He prayed in the Garden, TEMPTATION to not trust God’s plan was there. He asked if there was possibly another way. He was willing to die, but the pain of it all was threatening to overwhelm Him. As I read His words, I try and put myself in His place. I would have been Temptedto run away. Tempted to think I wasn’t strong enough to accomplish what God asked. Tempted to think it might be better for the people if I stayed here longer. They still needed teaching. Didn’t their lack of faith prove that? Couldn’t the cross wait one more year? Healing the sick, preparing disciples were “good” things, couldn’t I do that longer and do the whole cross/sacrifice thing later?

Maybe all this is just me. But I can see ways Christ might have been tempted. 
Just like I am now. 
I don’t have to cave to temptations.
The sin that CAN follow temptation was nailed to the cross with Christ.
He was TEMPTED, but without sin. Yet, He took the punishment of sin, as if He were the one guilty and not me.
There’s liberty found in resting in the work of the Cross.
Christ did the ultimate work so I can enter His rest.
Rest, not just when I’m dead, but now.
I can rest from my struggles now as I enter boldly before Him and ask Him to help me with my current temptations. All I have to do is BELIEVE.
“ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need .” Heb 4:16 NKJV
I need God. 
I can’t settle this storm inside on my own.
But I have confidence and trust in the promises found in the Bible.
So I come boldly and seek the grace I need.




.

Frantic or Faithful. What Your Actions Say About You.

In the last post I shared how I’m a DOER, not a WAITER.
I like ACTION. 
So when God says, “Wait.”, I often ask “Why?” 
Sorge says, “God was saying that a person of faith will not act hastily or out of desperation when the crisis is on. Faith means:  no frantic decisions in the face of crisis .”
Good advice.
It’s always better to sleep on something than to reply rashly. 
Time allows our emotions to cool off and new evidence to emerge.
It also gives God time to talk…and us to listen.
YET…
All too often, I rush full steam ahead, asking God to keep up.
It’s no wonder I’m usually frustrated. I’m acting completely contrary to how a Christian should.
Faith means I trust God when He says to “WAIT”.
Faith means I’m NOT God. I’m not even a little god.
I BELONG to God. I was purchased at a high price and I’m not my own. I’m HIS ambassador. (1 Cor 6:19-20, 2 Cor 5:20)
He didn’t save me just to watch me be tossed carelessly by the storms of life.
God cares about me (YOU).  He wants to see me (YOU) succeed. (Phil 1:6)
So when the crisis comes and I want to move quickly for resolution, God says, “CHILL OUT”.
I say, “But what about…”
God says, “I don’t care about XYZ, I care about YOU .”
“God can out-wait anybody. He just waits and waits, while the crisis looms larger and larger, and He waits some more. And then He waits until the crisis becomes an impossible predicament. And then He waits some more! Finally, when the remotest chance of escape is completely gone, God intervenes suddenly and miraculously.” 
God waits because He cares more about us than our current situation.
That’s not saying God doesn’t sometimes instantly answer our prayers and deliver us from whatever is coming against us. It does mean that God is STILL loving when He doesn’t immediately respond to our plight. 
He wants to make us more like Him and fire is the best way to purify us. Fire drives us to our knees. It brings us to the end of ourselves, and helps us to seek Him in new ways. It also shows how inadequate we are to meet life’s demands. No plans we have, no security we think we possess, no talents, or relationships outside of Christ, can do what He can. 
Only He is God.
He loves us.
He sent His son for us. (John 3:16-17)
Think about it this way:   IF we trust Him with our eternal salvation, why not trust Him with our current predicaments? (please tweet)
Various Assyrians (trials) will come against you in this life, no one is immune.
It’s tempting to rush ahead, to meet the enemy head on and ask God to bless our efforts.
But it’s smarter, it’s FAITH, to wait for God’s command to “GO”. 
“ The nation of Judah couldn’t see that God was for them: all they could see was that Assyria was against them .” 
Keep your eyes focused on God. It makes it easier to see the Assyrians (challenges) for what they are, opportunities for God’s name to be praised among the world (testimonies).
Join the Book club discussing, “ The Fire of Delayed Answers ” by Bob Sorge, by either grabbing a copy of the book and joining the weekly discussions and/or leaving a comment below. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason , Sarah , Dusty , Kari , Glynn ,  and Joell .