In the Meantime

Worried, afraid, and confused are all words that can be used to describe my feelings.  One day everything seemed fine.  I was busy taking care of my husband, my kids, and my home.  The excitement I had begun to feel about my future writing career could not be described.  School was going well and I was working towards my second Master’s degree while working on building my family’s blog talk show when one day things changed.  There may have been some subtle signs before, but honestly, I did not notice.  However, when I noticed the signs, there was no denying that they were there.

My body was changing and I was experiencing things that I had never experienced before.  I began searching online trying to figure out what was going on with me.  My husband, being the awesome person he is, finally told me in a very loving way, that I was allowing myself to be consumed and I did not even realize it.  Although I was waiting for doctor appointments, they just did not seem to come fast enough.  I felt like I needed answers immediately.  I wanted to know why my body was turning on me and what I had done to cause it to do so.

I will never forget this one particular evening I was talking to a sister in Christ on the phone and she said some wonderful and uplifting things to me.  There was one thing she said which caused me to take a closer look at myself and how I was handling this situation.  She began to share with me about how God was dealing with her concerning the “meantime” moments.  The ironic thing is that the next day I spoke with another friend who had been given the same word!  I knew without a shadow of a doubt there was something I personally needed to receive about my meantime moment.

The meantime is our time of waiting and sometimes a time of suffering and endurance.  This is the time when we have yet to see the manifestation of what we desire and what we have prayed for, however, we believe that we will.  The meantime comes before the appointed time.  In the meantime, we may struggle physically, emotionally, mentally, and physically but we remind ourselves that this time is only temporary.  The meantime is not the end; it is the time that comes before the promise.    

During the meantime, it is often difficult to see a positive ending.  When things are looking contrary to what we are hoping, many times, we find ourselves discouraged and maybe even depressed because we don’t have a complete understanding of what is happening and why.  However, we must remember that while we are in our meantime moments, there is still activity taking place.  Meanwhile, God is still working on our behalf, and he is answering our prayers.  While we are in our meantime moments, we must keep believing!  We must keep praying!  We must keep trusting!  We must keep seeking!  We must keep loving!  We must keep sowing!

 In the meantime, it is important to remember that there is a name that is above every problem or situation that we could ever face.  In the meantime moments know that God still sits on the throne and that Jesus still sits at the right hand as an advocate for us.  He has promised to heal, deliver, and set the captives free.  In the meantime, we must make a choice to stay focused on what is ahead of us and not what is before us.   There is an appointed time, and before it appears, there is a meantime.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalms 34:19 KJV