From Charles Stanley

So I receive Daily Devotional emails from Charles Stanley's website and I literally have laughed out loud most days the past few weeks because of absolute obviousness of God speaking to me where I needed to be spoken to. Obvious. Hilariously obvious. Here are a couple. I hope they are what you need today.

 

From Charles Stanley's Daily Devotional, "In Touch"May 28, 2011
God Is Always In Control
ISAIAH 45:5-7: I am the Lord and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. 
I underlined "and creating calamity" because often we don't want to read that part and we don't know how to deal with it or explain it, it's frustrating, so we skim that part of the verse.

Charles Stanley -"I admit that I often don't understand why bad things happen. Even so, I believe that God has a purpose for everything He does or permits. My faith is rooted in the biblical principle that says the Lord is sovereign (Ps. 22:28). He is in absolute control of this universe, the natural and political climate of this earth, and my life and yours.

When we are in the midst of a trial, it is hard to resist crying out, "God, Why is this happening?" Sometimes we get the answer and sometimes we don't. What we can be sure of is that nothing happens by accident or coincidence. He has a purpose for even our most painful experiences. Moreover, we have His promise to "cause all things to work together for good to those who love God" (Rom. 8:28).
Seeing in advance how the Lord will work evil or hurt for our benefit is very difficult, if not impossible. My limited human perspective doesn't allow me to grasp His greater plan. However, I can confirm the truth of this biblical promise because the Father's good handiwork appears all through my pain, hardship, and loss. I have experienced Him turn mourning into gladness and have seen Him reap bountiful blessings and benefits from my darkest hours.
As believers, we must accept that God won't always make sense to us. Isaiah teaches that His ways and thoughts are higher than our own (Isa. 55:9). He sees the beautifully completed big picture. We can rely on the fact that God is in control, no matter how wildly off-kilter our world seems to spin."

June 29, 2011
Waiting for Answers to Prayer
PSALM 33:20-22
Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer. Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not. What are some reasons for the delay?
At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30). Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him. The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him. In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request. Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people's thinking needs to be changed.
There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith. One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response. The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).
Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin. We all fall short when it comes to God's standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyle of disobedience. The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.
Waiting on the Lord isn't easy—faith and trust are needed (Heb. 11:1). If His answer is delayed, check that 1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is God-honoring, and 3) you aren't practicing habitual sin. Then believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.

I wait. I am waiting. And I see some of the reasons for the delays. I know there is a reason and reasons beyond my comprehension. And knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control does not always make it easy to put the frustration of not getting what you want behind you. I am waiting - on a time that my husband and I don't have 100 juggling balls in the air, on our house in Nashville to be finished, on a time that I won't play tug of war in my mind most hours  of the day, on a time when going to church doesn't make me cry, on a time when I will be the cute pregnant girl again, on a time when I will get to hold my children in my arms, on a time when I will get to hold Luke in my arms again.....but all this waiting is not all sad or mad or frustrating, all this waiting has softened my heart and made me realize my enormous need for Christ. If I can only find Him in the storm then this is where I need to be and want to be. I would rather experience the deepest of sorrows so that I can understand  the greatest of joys versus living in the middle not ever knowing what's in the darkest night and brightest day.