In This Issue:

1. Welcome from Kelly

2. Don't Lose Your Vision

3. Hope Deferred - Learning to Wait

4. Joseph - The Dreamer Who Waited a Lifetime

5. Participate! Ask a Question.

6. Book Recommendation - The Dream Giver

Welcome from Kelly

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. -Proverbs 13:12

This issue is arriving later in the month than usual; however, we are going to talk about waiting so I'm going to pretend that it was intentional.

By now you have read 1,000 blog posts about planning, goal setting, resolution-keeping, and how 2010 is going to be the year that you fix every problem in your life.

How's that going?

I hope you will find some encouragement here as we look at this from God's perspective.

Don't Lose Your Vision

When we get into this methodical mode, it is easy to forget about the dreams behind those goals and lose sight of the vision that started it all. Soon all of the excitement is drained from the process.

Sometimes frustration sets in as our plans do not progress at the speed that we expect, even when we are following all of the steps and checking everything off the list.

Do you feel a calling that just won't come together?

Does it feel like you are running on a treadmill reaching for a dream that is too far in front of you?

Are you tired of waiting?

You might be right where God wants you.

Don't lose your vision. Oswald Chambers said:

The vision of God is the source of patience... ...The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually.

Hope Deferred - Learning to Wait

Here are some nuggets of scripture on waiting:

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! -Isaiah 30:18

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." -Lamentations 3:24

Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. -Habakkuk 2:3b

But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently. -Romans 8:25

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. -Psalms 27:14

And one final quote from Oswald Chambers:

When God brings the blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait.

If you feel like you are alone in waiting for a hope deferred, reconsider. I think this just might be a recurring theme in the hearts of those who serve the Lord.

Joseph, the Dreamer Who Waited a Lifetime

God gave Joseph a vision when he was only seventeen years old. He would be ruler with great authority.

Imagine a teenager with such a dream!

So he made his 5-year plan and worked the plan, right?

Well, actually, things didn't progress the way that he envisioned. We're really not told what he thought would happen, but I'm sure that his vision was far from the reality of his life.

Sold into to slavery.

No problem! He worked hard and was trustworthy and was promoted to great responsibility in Potiphar's household. Maybe Joseph started to see that career path developing. Maybe he just tweaked that 5 year plan a little. This must be how he will reach the vision.

Nope! False Accusations. Sexual Harrassment. Thrown into prison.

Nothing like plummeting to the bottom of the ladder.

Do you think he felt a little frustrated? Confused about the dream that God had given him? A little angry that his obedience kept landing him in the basement?

God had Joseph right where He needed him. Then he achieved his dream by helping someone else with their dream.

It was perfect. It saved Israel.

Joseph never would have planned it that way.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. -Proverbs 13:12

Participate! Ask a Question

Three new participation pages are now available on the Tabithas Team website. Women who are sharing what they have learned with you are volunteering to answer your questions.

See all of our "Team Members" here.

Sarah Stirman writes and speaks about marriage and family issues.

Heleen Woest helps women with eating disorders and food addiction.

Donna Perugini is a children's book author who has creative ideas for teaching children.

Visit their pages and ask a question!

Recommended Book

The Dream Giver: Following Your God-Given Destiny - Hardcover By Bruce Wilkinson / Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

The Dream Giver is an inspiring parable about Ordinary, a Nobody who realizes that the Dream Giver has given him a Big Dream. He leaves Familiar and sets out on a long journey to pursue the Big Dream. It is a long and hard journey, and often it seems that his dream is hopelessly out of reach. Along the way, Ordinary journals about the things that he has learned.