Just Not Tonight

"I'll get you out of this place. It just can't be tonight."



"You're just going to leave me here?!"


"I promise I won't leave you here any longer than I have to."

—Belinda to her little brother Jacob, who were orphaned and split up in different homes. Jacob was in a cruel home, but they needed to stay put so they could be found by their father later on (From Love's Unending Legacy)


That made me think of the conversations we sometimes have with God. He's always right there, able to take me out of a tough situation or season, but, in order to fulfill a higher purpose, often chooses not to. Instead, He stays close by, watching out for me and "feeding" me day by day right where I am. Even though it hurts Him to see His child hurting, to hear the cry, "You're just going to leave me here?!"He knows I have to stay right here for a while.

Because this will bring a more glorious result, a much bigger deliverance than simply an escape from pain. He will instead give unlimited grace. Unexplainable joy. Inexhaustible strength. Unspeakable glory.

"Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice; 
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; 
You shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will answer you."
(Isaiah 30:18-19 NKJV)

So tell me, what is our ending? [It will] be beautiful, so beautiful...
(BarlowGirl, "Beautiful Ending," 2009)

I Wait

So I haven't posted many of my own thoughts here lately... but the quotes, lyrics and verses I have been sharing is always some glimpse of what's on my heart. Sometimes there just isn't anything to say that someone else hasn't already captured with much more clarity and wisdom than I can. One preacher put it like this, "I never have an original thought; I'm just a walking quote." 

I am working on a few things literary, but I'm not sure when/if they will be finished or if they will be posted. But, read on. Elisabeth Elliot's writing has been such an encouragement to me over the years, and I trust you will be blessed by it as well!

I wait.

Dear Lord, Thy ways

Are past finding out,

Thy love too high.

O hold me still

Beneath Thy shadow.

It is enough that Thou

Lift up the light

Of Thy countenance.

I wait—

Because I am commanded

So to do. My mind

Is filled with wonderings.

My soul asks, "Why?"

But then the quiet word,

"Wait thou only

Upon God."

And so, not even for the light

But for Thee, dear Lord,

I wait.

—Passion & Purity, p. 72
(c) 1984, 2002 by Elisabeth Elliot

The Hands Holding You...

Why do you say... "My way is hidden from the LORD...?"

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.

(Isaiah 40:27-28)

These are the Hands that built the mountains

The Hands that calmed the seas

These are the arms that hold the heavens

They are holding you and me

These are Hands that healed the leper

Pulled the lame up to their feet

These are the arms that were nailed to a cross

To break our chains and set us free

You will be safe in His arms

'Cause the hands that hold the world

Are holding your heart

—Phil Wickham, 2009, "Safe"