Confidence In Christ: A Devotional For Teen Girls

Patience

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

Lately, as I'm getting older and closer to becoming an adult, I've been hyper-focused on my dreams and goals. A couple of years ago, things like a future career seemed so far off. Something to worry about in the dintent future.  Nonetheless, this past year, everything has felt super close, which raises a million unanswerable questions to surface. 

Will my writing career sink or swim? And if it does work out, how? Should I make this change or that change to my book? Are my characters distinct enough? Are they relatable?

And then there are the more universal concerns.

In a couple of years I'm going to be living on my own, will I be able to handle it? I still only have my permit and haven't even been practicing my driving lately. Will I ever get the hang of it? And, what will college be like? Will I be able to handle college math (My worst subject)?

I find myself caught between now and the future, half wishing I could ride in the crazy scientist from Back To The Future's time machine and be assured that everything will fall into place. But, I have something better than a time machine: God's word.

As Christians, we're not left alone to worry about the future. God speaks about this topic numerous times throughout Scripture.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?" Matthew 6:25-27

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

God has our whole lives planned out, and His plans for us are beyond our wildest dreams! We may not be able to see the future, but God can. Plus, if we could see into the future, we'd miss all of the surprises that come with living! As scary as it can often be, it's also exciting to know that God has good things planned for us that we can't yet fathom. At times, we may wish that everything would just happen right now. But, sometimes He sees things we can't and has us wait for a reason.

Two years ago, I would have loved to perform a song that I wrote right then and there; but God had me wait until it I got better at singing and composing the instrumental for it. As hard as it was at the time, I'm now thankful that He had me wait. I trust that this is true for all my other goals/dreams/aspirations as well. God may be growing us during times of waiting, and asking us to trust Him with what you can't see. He may be planning opportunities that can only be found further down the path of life. We don't always know why God asks us to wait, but we can know this -

We never have to wait alone, because God is always with us, and always has our best interests at heart. 

Discussion Question - They say God answers prayers with "yes", "no", or "not yet". Has God ever had you wait for something in your own life? If so, how did it turn out—and what happened?