Reflections on God's Word

by Victoria Robinson

I am a girl who loves the anticipation of something almost more than I enjoy the event itself. There is an excitement in my heart as I eagerly await. A perfect example is Heaven. While I am excited about spending eternity in such a wonderful place, I am not eager to be there yet. Still the Word of God encourages us to fill our minds with thoughts of Heaven. While it is great to think about Heaven, what else are we to anticipate?

Our Lord and Savior anxiously anticipated dinner with friends. admittedly this was no ordinary dinner party—this would be the last time they would all be dining together on this side of eternity.  Who of us has not anticipated a wonderful glowing evening around a dining table with close friends? The laughter and warmth are life-giving to our hearts.

Girlfriends, I know all of you relate to the apostle Paul’s encouragement of looking forward to our new bodies. Many of us have more than one size of clothing hanging in our closets just waiting for the day we lose enough weight to wear that “to die for dress”. Be encouraged, for in eternity we will have that perfect body!

Abraham anticipated the Lord’s provision when he and Isaac went up on the mountain to make a sacrifice. While at first it seems evident to us that he will be sacrificing his own son, Abraham says things that would indicate he knew the Lord’s provision would ultimately come in another way. Twice he uses the term “we” when referring to his return down the mountain. This clearly shows his anticipation of the divine provision which turns out to be a ram caught in a thicket. We need to be just as confident that the Lord will provide for us.

We are to also anticipate the Lord’s deliverance in difficult situations. When looking to the Lord for deliverance, the apostle Paul said, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed …” He anticipated with full confidence that Christ would be exalted through all his sufferings.

Dearest girlfriends, lets us eagerly anticipate the greatness our Lord is going to bring into our lives here on earth and in eternity.

All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. ~ Romans 8:21 NLT 

by Victoria Robinson

Girlfriends, do you feel forgotten by the Lord? Have you been waiting so long your heart is just aching? We know the psalmist experienced this because these words overflowed from his heart, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?”

In His divine wisdom our heavenly Father does not always divulge the day and time our sorrows will come to an end. When the pain does not make sense we must hold fast to trusting His love for us and knowing we are safest in His arms.

Another aspect can be seen in the fortieth psalm—that when our deliverance comes many will see and fear and put their trust in God. This elevates our waiting to a whole new level. The truth is God will use our suffering to draw others to Him. Needless to say, our behavior during difficulties is either a positive or negative reflection of our heavenly Father.

Dearest girlfriends, let us wait patiently on the Lord and know for certain He hears our cries and will care for us.

by Victoria Robinson

True faith means that we quietly trust our heavenly Father to work everything out that concerns us. This can be difficult for someone like me  who tends to want the proof up front. Yet, that is not faith as we see in the book of Hebrews where it says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

In the suspenseful story of the Israelites fleeing the Egyptians, Moses tells the Israelites, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” There was no way other than faith for the Israelites to know everything would turn out okay. Sure enough, as the story unfolds the Lord fought for His people by not only making a way of escape, but annihilating the enemy.

Dearest girlfriends, I pray we would be still and quietly trust our heavenly Father for all our needs.

by Victoria Robinson

There once was a man named Zacchaeus who benefited greatly for not waiting, but obeying the command of Jesus immediately. Jesus asked him to come down out of a tree immediately so that He could stay at his house. Because of his obedience, salvation came upon Zacchaeus. What a wonderful story to remind us to not wait, but obey our heavenly Father at once.

When sharing his story of redemption, the apostle Paul tells of being told four times to go somewhere or do something. He quickly obeyed and what we see is a story of salvation, baptism and deliverance from danger. If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you can be thankful for Paul’s actions as this brought salvation to the Gentiles.

In the book of Luke is a story of a paralytic man who Jesus told, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Because of his obedience we see God was glorified.

Girlfriends, has your heavenly Father asked you to do something and you have waited? If so, there is no better time than right now to take action and come into obedience. The results will be fabulous because your heavenly Father’s plans are always wonderful. Dearest girlfriends, I pray we would not linger over what God has told us, but move quickly in order to bring glory to Him.