Worth the Wait

By Todd Kaufmann

 

There are moments in time where you stop and realize what’s going on around you. You start to see things that you didn’t see before or you notice certain details that weren’t clear before that very moment.

It happened to me this past weekend as one of my closest friends got engaged. It was a day that he had been waiting for for quite some time.

I remember the story he told me even prior to meeting this girl. He had watched some of his other friends get married and, for those of you who are single, know how hard that must be when you’re trying to be happy for someone but wondering to yourself, “when is it my time?”

He had the same thought. But, God put him at ease with just one simple truth. A truth that I learned just a few weeks after it was spoken to him. He said, “God told me the next girl I kiss is the girl I’m going to marry.”

Of course I was happy for him. It was tough to see him go on a few dates that didn’t go very well but he hung on to the words that had been spoken to his heart. He held on to the promise that God put on his future.

A few months later, that future became reality and the emotions were clear.

To watch him tell this story in front of his family and hers, along with a few select friends, was as priceless a moment as there would ever be.

As he said those words, “the next girl I kiss will be the girl I marry,” the tears began to fall. Every single bit of emotion he had been feeling for the past few years all came out in one single moment. We all smiled knowing those weren’t tears of sorrow, but instead, they were tears of joy.

There’s not much more I can say about a guy who I consider like a brother. He’s always a guy who knows how to be funny and sarcastic but he’s also a guy you can sit down with and just have a serious conversation.

He hears God and believes the things spoken into his life. He believes that God has had him on a certain path that has led to an engagement, an impending wedding, and a life that will be nothing short of incredible.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say something about her as well. Though the words will be short and sweet, they still say everything that needs to be said.

For him…she’s perfect.

The wedding is just a few short months away, months that will fly by and before they both know it, it will be time for her to walk down the aisle to a future that long awaited them both.

There’s no question I’m proud of him, that’s what brothers are for. But, as a friend, the pride I have for him is beyond any scale you could possibly invent.

God spoke. He listened. Obeyed. Waited patiently. And, finally, his time, and the promise delivered, had come.

This story may be about one particular person and the wait that ensued. But, we’re all waiting for something. A new job, a new career, a wife, a husband.

The wait seems excruciating and, at times, it can be downright frustrating to think that the promise will never come to pass. I’ve been down that road and I still battle with having patience for a promise delivered on my own life.

But, if we just wait and have faith that God will deliver the most amazing things to us, the wait won’t seem so bad after all.

In fact, when the promise does arrive, we won’t even remember that we waited long at all.

Await the Blessings Still to Come

By Todd Kaufmann

Usually on Thursday mornings I awake at 4:30am and I’m out the door somewhere around 5am. I drive from my home near Arlington, Texas about 35 miles north up to Southlake where I meet up with about 15-20 other men for a morning prayer group.

This morning when the alarm went off I felt like my body wouldn’t physically allow me to get out of bed and go through the same routine I normally go through.

I love Thursday mornings because I always feel better after being around these guys. They are anointed men of God and there is nothing better than to have them pray over you and over every man in the room. They read scripture, they pray, they receive, they bless, and I leave there ready for whatever comes at me that day.

To be totally honest I wish they met every morning instead of just once a week though I know that’s too much to expect of men who probably have more packed schedules than I.

Being unable to go this morning had me in a much different mood and in a much different mindset.

So I opened up my twitter account on Tweetdeck to look over some of the sports news from late last night and to answer any questions that came in after I had gone to bed the night before.

God always says His timing is perfect. He meant that this morning and He knew I would need this scripture. It stood out like a sore thumb and literally had my name engraved on it.

“The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.” — Deuteronomy 28:12

For those of us who spend so much time doing things and trying to accomplish that ultimate goal we always seem to reach for, the fruits of our labor always seem to be out of our reach. If that’s you, trust me I know how you feel.

My day job pays the bills but it’s by no means what I want to do with my life. I’ve always told people I work with, if we all had our dream job none of us would be where we are right now. We’d all be doing different things.

I love to write but mostly about sports. I love the game of baseball and it’s why I follow, write about, and cover, the Texas Rangers during the Major League Baseball season and beyond. That’s my passion. That’s what I want to do with my life.

But that’s not the only thing I want to accomplish. There’s always been this passion inside of me to be able to change lives but not just to do it alone. I want to affect lives with my wife by my side.

She’s an incredible inspiration and one of the most encouraging people I know. She’s been so patient with me while I’ve chased this dream of mine. But we want to serve, we want to change lives, and we want to save marriages. And do all of that–together.

So here’s where the title of this post comes in. All of us have waited, for however long it had been or still is, for a blessing to come into our lives. We stood on a promise God had promised on our lives and we continued to wait for that day to come. But with every passing day it didn’t come, the more the enemy used that to try to convince you the blessing would never come. That you wouldn’t have to continue to do the same things you were doing for Him in order for that blessing to come.

I’ve failed at that more times than I can count. I’ve fallen more times than I care to recall. But each time, God has stood over me, reached out his hand, and offered to pick me up off the ground. While pride will sometimes get in the way of asking for help, it’s exactly what God is waiting for. He wants to help.

Blessings on your life won’t come if you aren’t ready for them. God isn’t going to watch you be immature about it or be complaisant about it, He wants to know you’re going to work as hard as you had been even after He bestows that promise upon you. He wants to know that after you receive it that you’ll stop searching for Him and His truth.

This message isn’t just for you. I’m not telling you how to receive your calling. He’s talking to me about how to receive mine.

Stand on those promises and await what is to come.

Timing Isn’t Everything, it’s His Thing

By Todd Kaufmann

Do you know the phrase, though highly overused, “timing is everything?” Ever wondered why that phrase, at times, didn’t make sense to you in certain situations?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been puzzled at that phrase, mostly because I lack patience in certain areas. I’ve been wanting to be a sports writer for some time now and although I freelance for National Football Authority and Sports Page Dallas, I still haven’t found that paid gig yet to really jump-start the thing I really want to do. The thing I want to make a career.

That’s when God stands next to me and whispers those three words I’m beginning to loathe.

Timing. Is. Everything.

But before you roll your eyes and wonder if I really know what those three words mean, let me translate it in the way God really intended it to mean.

Timing. Is. MY. Thing.

Does it make more sense now? I thought so.

When God speaks to your heart you hear that voice that has been so familiar for so long. Your first reaction is to question whether or not you heard Him clearly. So, He says it again. This time with a little more authority. So much so that you’re afraid to question whether you heard Him or not.

But just when you start to speak it into your life, doubt kicks in. This is where I’ve always had my problem. God has always preached patience to me, that I needed to fix some things in my life and not act “bigger than I really am.” Talk about a reality check, right?

When I say, “God wants the best for us,” don’t just shrug your shoulders like you don’t know. God has always known what was in store for us, we just don’t see it for ourselves or we refuse to really believe that’s what we’re meant for. We either stop working towards it or decide we know what path is right for us. When that path leads to a dead-end, why are we left wondering what happened?

Do you really need me to answer that for you?

Stop trying to pick the road most traveled. No, not less traveled, you heard me right. You want to choose the path where there are a lot of people so you don’t feel so alone. You want to feel accepted. I can understand that because I’ve been there.

But when God points out a path for us and you only see what can only be described as a “one horse town” where there aren’t many people around, you shake Him off like a pitcher shakes off his catcher when he doesn’t like the call being made. If you’re getting a little defensive about what you’re reading, it means you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m not preaching to you, trust me. I’ve been in your chair and I’ve been exactly where you are at this very minute. How do I know? Because I’m still there just like you are. I’m still trying to wait patiently just like you are.

I may reach my goal before you reach yours or you may reach your goal before I reach mine. Doesn’t mean I’m not destined to reach my goal eventually. Though I really shouldn’t say “my” goal or “your” goal, I really should say “HIS” goal for us. It’s His path, is it not?

So before you wonder where your life is really headed, stop for a second and realize the voice that is speaking to you has given you the answer all along. You just weren’t willing to listen.

The next time you hear someone use the phrase, “timing is everything,” smile and politely reply, “no, timing is His thing.” If they don’t get it, it’s ok, at least God will nudge you and say, “nicely done.”

Patience Leads to Perseverance

By Todd Kaufmann

 

We all deal with this every single day whether it’s at work, driving on the highway, or even at the grocery store, this thing is always going to be tested within us.

What’s that thing? Patience.

I know it’s a hard word for all of us to understand because a lot of us lose it all too quickly and sometimes over the smallest things. But that small thing was after you had the most patience over a few big things earlier that day. It just took that small thing to finally set you off.

Or what about driving on the highway and someone cuts you off or turns in front of you going slower than you yourself want to go? Instead of taking a deep breath and shaking it off, we usually do something to get that person back. Often times, and more times than we want to admit, we end up being the ones who look the worst.

Patience is a hard thing for all of us to deal with. We try to shake a lot of things off and just try to get through the day. But there’s a big difference between just shrugging things off and letting it bottle up inside you all day.

I, myself, can just let things roll off my back. Just ask my beautiful wife and she’ll tell you there are times she doesn’t understand how I can be so patient with things. I guess, to me, there are some things that just aren’t worth getting worked up over.

Where am I going with all of this?

I had my quiet time with God this morning and He reminded me of a struggle I’ve been dealing with for quite some time. I’ve been doing a lot of freelance sports writing in my free time because it’s something I really enjoy. It’s something that allows me to escape reality, if only for a few minutes, and be able to talk about the things I’m passionate with.

I’m blessed to have the gift that God has given me but I often wonder when that gift is going to manifest itself into a full time opportunity. I’ve spent a lot of time writing for this site or that site and doing so for free. I’ve never really complained, with one or two exceptions of course, because I always felt like God was going to do something big with me at some point.

Over the last few years, I’ve started to wonder if the finish line was ever going to come. I felt like I was running hard after something I really wanted but never really knowing if it was ever going to get here. Did God mis-speak? Did I not hear Him right?

Then he reminded me during my quiet time this morning that His word, nor his promises, ever return void. God has never mis-spoken about a promise He has put on our lives. When He says something will come to pass, it will come to pass.

The hardest part for me about all this is the line He often gives to me when my patience with this wears thin. “It will come but it will be in My perfect timing.”

If you’re like me, you want to know how the story ends so you don’t have to read the book. In this case, God is wanting us to take it one chapter at a time. Why? Because it builds perseverance.

We read the story, we learn about the characters, we learn about their situations, and we realize how much the story is referring to our own lives. It’s at that point we close the book, we close our eyes, and we let God know that we’re sorry our patience with Him wore thin and we’re sorry that we doubted what He was going to do with our lives.

Patience might be hard but perseverance brings about the perfect result. The more we believe that, the sooner we will realize just how much God has in store for us.