One of the things I chose to do today was to clean out my e-mail inbox. When I was on my internet fast a few weeks ago, my inbox had racked up in unread e-mails and I wanted to just go through them all to be sure I hadn't missed anything of importance. To my surprise, I stumbled across an e-mail from my friend Timere. The subject of the e-mail was "FAITH". I opened the e-mail and the body read "this is the awesome sermon I caught last night". I clicked on the link and it was a Joel Osteen sermon called "Activate Faith, Not Fear". I watched the sermon and it was truly a blessing! You can check it out here. After watching that sermon, I noticed another sermon on the right hand side of the screen called "Trusting God's Timing". I decided to click on it and see what it was all about.
This was no surprise that this sermon was all that I needed and more!!! I have struggled with being patient while waiting for things to come to pass my entire life (hence the name my friends used to call me Anxious Annie)! As I've grown older and more mature especially in my walk with God, my patience has increased and I am much better than I was. However, I can't truly say that my desire to have instant gratification doesn't kick in from time to time.
Joel says in the sermon:
"In life we're always waiting for something. When it's not happening as fast as we would like, it's easy to get frustrated. The moment you prayed, God has established a set time for it to come to pass. When you understand the time has already been set, it takes the pressure off. You can relax and enjoy your life knowing that the promise has already been scheduled by the creator of the universe."
Of course no one likes to wait (well at least I don't know anyone who does), but this sermon confirms that when we trust God's timing, everything we've ever waited for will be awesome and amazing once it comes to pass!
One of my favorite verses regarding timing is from Habakkuk 2:3 and it says: "...The vision is for an appointed time, it may seem slow in coming, but wait patiently for it is surly coming". I have made vision boards for the past two years and each year, I put this scripture on my board! The great thing about this scripture is that it says "wait patiently for it is SURLY to come". That's a promise!! Whatever you're waiting on, it's coming eventually!
Two things that I've wanted for as long as I could remember are: having a fit body and being in a loving, healthy relationship. I remember when I was in 6th grade, I declared that I wanted this banging amazing body! As for the relationship, I have always loved love for as long as I can remember so that's been a constant desire of my heart as well. Each of these things are slightly different when it comes to when it could come to pass for me.
Getting my body into shape is something that is solely dependent on my efforts and my doing. Finding the right person for me, is not so much an independent event. But I have noticed that both of these things fall align with perfect timing.
Like I've said in a previous post, I have never been a stranger to working out. I played a few active sports in middle and high school and I did some recreational working out all throughout my 20s, but why has my body never seen the results I'm seeing now? I'll tell you why! Because getting fit is not just about working out! I've said it time and time again! It's a "trifecta" (as one of my Instagram followers calls it) which includes: quality nutrition, cardio, and resistance training. All three of those things put together is what's yielding me these results. This also takes a disciplined mind! Getting is shape and eating right really is a lot more mental than people give it credit for. There are so many things that motivate me to keep going in this journey. Caring about my health and not taking it for granted, understanding how important nutrition is if I want to see results, mentally pushing myself through a challenging workout (overcoming laziness), and lastly being motivated to encourage others through my journey! Inspiring others has been a huge push with keeping me going in all of this. Sometimes I want to give up, but I think about how many people are inspired by me and I keep going. Another thing is the timing of seeing the results! It's easy to get discouraged when you want to see a six pack 3 days after you start working out and eating right. Sometimes you may even want to give up because you think it's not working for you. In due time, with consistency it will happen!! The date is already set so just throw the scale out the window and keep doing what you're doing! The date was also set for me to get my mind right and understand all that it entails for me to do this! The date was already set for me to care about wanting to inspire others when years ago, this would have been all about me and only me!
As for finding love, I can't believe I'm saying this, but within the past couple of months, this has been the first time EVER that I wasn't pressed about when it was going to happen. I mean I'm the lover of the group!! Anyone who knows me knows I'm the one with the hearts in my eyes, bursting into song and dance "TO BE LOVED, TO BE LOVED.....AHHHH WHAT A FEELING"..Prince Akheem from Coming to America style, type of chick! And this sermon was so on point for confirming that my feelings of ease in this area of my life is exactly how God wants me to feel! No need to be anxious or worried when it's going to happen. No need to panic that I live in the boondocks so how and where will I meet this man!? No need to panic that I'm almost 30 and still waiting. No need to consult the biological clock and go into panic mode. It is still a desire of my heart, but I truly trust God that the moment is already set and with that said, I might as well enjoy the life I have now until that appointed date and time arrives.
"...it's through faith and patience that we inherit the promises". Hebrews 6:12
You can check out this sermon here!
*Be blessed*
