Hustle While You Wait

Thanks for taking the time to post these.

My pastor said something similar on Sunday: “Stand firm, but don’t stand still!” This was a challenge to me because I am standing firm – but I’m standing still, too. Thanks for encouraging me to keep moving forward!

Sometimes we just need to be faithful in the smaller things before God moves us on to bigger things. Thanks for the post!

“Keep moving forward” and “Hustle while you wait” Are going on the back of my door. (I put all the quotes that are good to remember up there.) I could use that in my own life. (e.i. when I am downloading a sermon, How important is it to watch the bar move? I could be cleaning the living room, working on a school project, or reading a book.) very practical thanks.

Caleb said: “when I am downloading a sermon, How important is it to watch the bar move?”

I’m not the only one to do that?

But yes, it can often be tempting for me to act as if life is not now. The teenage years are simply preparation for life. And while that is definitely true to a certain extent, life is now- we have to keep moving forward by not waiting for some elusive “life” to suddenly jump out at us and being diligent in what our life is right now.

It reminds me of something a friend used to say, “Excellence isn’t an event, it’s a way of life.” I believe he was paraphrasing someone else, though I’m not sure who.

God taught me something interesting while reading this series. This week I was also reading a couple of books that are just kid books about ice skating that I got as a gift, but that have turned out to be rather interesting going along with the theme of this series because at their core they are about trying at something with every effort and never stopping at something that your heart is in. That may sound corny and kind of like some sort of motivational speech or something for atheletes — which it is — but while I was reading those books and after reading this God showed me something. Whatever we do we should put our heart into it — yeah, I wrote that before — but more than that, whatever we do we should approach and do with a heart of worship. Sometimes I do things I don’t want to do and I do them as a gift to God but I know that I still don’t really honor God with my heart while I am doing them. But if we do everything that He calls us to do WORSHIPPING Him . . . how could we change the world? We are supposed to love others, but we cannot forget the commandment more important than that — to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength. What would happen, I wonder, if we all did that? Even if we can’t worship God through what we do (or don’t see how we can) what if we worship Him AS we do it? Wouldn’t that draw others to His Heart? As we give all our effort physically and mentally shouldn’t we give all our effort in spirit and heart, too, to the One we Love? Isn’t that what He wants from His Bride? Isn’t that what you would want — Love for you within the heart of the one you love at all times? Everything done out of love for you? That’s what I’d want. I think that’s what we should give to God. I’m not there yet, but that’s where I want to be in my walk with Him.

Anybody who feels that God has been teaching them these same things recently — let’s talk! I want to hear what God is showing you on this topic. I’m excited. I have never honored God with what I do by using it as a means to bring Him glory and love — as a means to worship Him. I want to do this. I mean, I’ve done it with some things like, of course, music or art or singing . . . but not with everyday things. And what if a whole generation of Christians — ours — brings God glory and love by worshipping Him in all that we do or as we do all that we do? You know, no more moping Christianity that’s bragging about being poor, broken and unhappy. We could be resurrected Christians that praise God as we speak, work, live and, like in Acts, even as we are persecuted.

I read this book recently — Green Leaf in Drought — the missionary it’s about realized that she was denying God like Peter in the Bible by not praising Him in her heart and attitude when she was around others — by acting like He wasn’t Faithful because He hadn’t yet given her what she wanted (freedom for herself and her family from the communists that had taken over and could kill her husband any day as long as they were still in China). I wondered, how do I do that because I don’t always give Him the honor and love and worship He deserves — alone and in front of others? What would happen if I did?

What do you think?

Guys, I applaud your efforts. But there is already a do hard things / live high standards movement out there for teenagers. The teenagers who belong to this movement adhere to standards far above their peers. They aspire to and live great lives. They don’t use drugs, abuse alcohol, they abstain from sex until marriage, they wear modest clothes and generally work hard to live a moral and fulfilling life. They call themselves mormons. I guess the only difference is that they don’t charge money for their events and literature. Which is why its so ironic that evangelicals, who profess and live a lower standard than these mormons, make it a point to bag on them. Go figure. Just a bunch of Johnny-come-latelys trying to make a buck.

Yes, many mormans put Christians to shame by their level of commitment to their religion, but only when the Christians they are compared to consider Christianity to be a religion. Christianity in its true essence is not a religion. Christianity is death at the Cross unto the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ within us and through us. That makes the least sense as a religion because it requires our death and only promises life, rewards, anything if we die (to self, sin, all that is flesh). Religion is something we use to better ourselves. Once dead, how can we better ourselves? No, Christianity is not a religion. If we live as true Christians should, we would not be compareable to mormans or people of any other belief or creed. One of the nicest people I ever knew was morman. My mom visited a morman church and they were very nice and welcoming. That’s not true of Christian religious people. Christian religious people are basically just hypocrites who profess to be able to attain something that is not humanly possible and who profess to be something they are not because they don’t know Jesus and haven;t experienced the Resurrection because they haven’t met Him at the Cross and died as is required. Christian religious want the promises and rewards without any sacrifice. Christianity is not being good or doing hard things or anything but simply Jesus Himself Resurrected within us and abiding in us and living and working through us. How else are we to live but by His Power alone? I know this will not make sense if you haven’t experienced it. It wouldn’t have made sense to me when I was 13 or maybe even when I was 15, but now it’s the most real thing I know or have ever known. All I can say is, please, Ji Fu, ask God to meet you in a way that you know how He means for us to live and serve Him and for Him to make your heart ready to encounter Him so that you cannot hold back from surrendering to Him all that He asks. And yeah, the religious Christians (not real Christians) are the worst at being after money. I agree with you there. They try to “sell” Jesus — or the rewards of knowing Him without even introducing you to Him. Read the Hudson Taylor 2-part biography. I find that interesting to contradict all those missionaries and pastors asking for money these days. Hudson never once asked for money, but he succeeded as a missionary in China for years and he started the CIM (OMF now). Anyway, you can read about that all if you’re interested. Main thing was what I already wrote. Oh, and I’ve been writing books (Christian ones) for years and still haven’t made any money from it. But God always provides perfectly for my needs. I never ask for money either. If we trust God and are faithful to obey Him then we will always find Him faithful. It’s when we don’t give Him a chance that we never will witness His faithfulness as we should.

Anika Q: It is true that we are hated the more we grow in holiness. Unfortunately, there are religious leaders who grow in pride who also cause people to hate true Christians because they make all Christians and Christianity in general look like hypocrites and a bunch of hypocrisy. I think the key is to become like Jesus so that we cannot be mistaken as being the same as the religious in any way. It’s so obvious in the Bible that Jesus was different than the religious because, for one, they were after Him to kill Him.
The world does hate us the more we know Him. So do religous people. It’s because they are convicted. Nobody likes to be convicted if they don’t seek the truth. It shows them to be cowardly because in reality they are hiding from the truth if they aren’t seeking it (as is our purpose on this earth, as human beings, I believe — to seek truth and love and to know The Truth and The Love).
I guess I’m saying I haven’t been hated by the world, like you have, so much as by the religious — the people who claim to be Christians, but do not correctly present God. You know, as Christians, we welcome Jesus to abide in our hearts. How can we treat people with hate and prejudice and not love with compassion when He is there — within us? I’ve lost all of my friends — Christian and non-Christian. But it has been good because I have gained the fellowship of sharing with Him in His sufferings (like it says in Phillipians 3). I wasn’t prepared to lose all of my friends. It just sort of happened because when I prayed to live as God wants me to — you know, asked God to help me “walk my talk” — then they would tell me to leave God out of our relationships. I couldn’t do that. Everything in my life comes back to God. I wouldn’t leave my best friend or husband (not that I have one yet) out of a relationship. Jesus is both to me. I can’t leave Him out.
I guess I’m saying I agree with what you said about the world hating us the more we grow spiritually and the closer we get to God — the more He rules in our life. I’ll be praying for you to know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings through all that you experience. And let me tell you, even though you may already know it, nothing, I mean NOTHING, compares to knowing God deeper — to knowing His Heart in a new way. It makes all the suffering and hate and violence worth it.
When people persecute you, read the gospels and see that Jesus was treated worse. Joy in that you know His Heart in a new way because you know what it feels like, to a degree, to be treated as He was. Read the Psalms and know the agony and anger and love and compassion and desperation and hope aquainted with knowing God — and that He feels in knowing us sometimes.
Please pray for me, too, to know Him deeper and to always remember that it is a great, great blessing and honor to be persecuted for His sake — for knowing Him. And to never see anything as greater than knowing the Heart of the King of kings — because NOTHING is GREATER!

Wow I would say that Alex you handled that very well! Good job for responding with such a good attitude. Keep up the good work!

Ji Fu: Do you know that quote by someone that says something to the effect of “To do something well, one must know why they do it”? That’s a really bad paraphrase! Anyway, what I’m saying is, to do hard things, one must know WHY the hard things are done … right? I think that is the problem with most so-called-Christians. They don’t know why or for Whom they should do anything. They don’t know, profoundly KNOW Jesus. Have you read Acts in the Bible? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. I love that you brought up the point that you did because I think we need to get to the core of WHY and for WHOM. I think what you said can be a real eye-opener to us that is needed and, in my heart, is welcome. Anyway, I think Acts is a good example of Christianity and doing hard things as it should be. Maybe someday soon there will be a more modern-day example to present. For now …

Anika: Thanks! You have no idea how much your prayers mean to me. And those verses you quoted sound familiar. Pride is so damaging to Christians — especially Christian leaders. I am having a lot of trouble right now from a prominent Christian leader who is spreading lies about me and who refuses to listen to the truth or what I have to say. I almost felt that I got through and then WHAM the door shut in my face. Now he basically hates me and is spreading lies about me that I have no love just because I had to confront him about a few things that he was doing that was damaging people who follow him. He confronts people all the time, but when he is confronted his pride kicks into high gear. I am trying hard to work through the hurt and the mixed feelings of working with someone who should be a brother in Christ and then suddenly getting cut off because he doesn’t actually seek to follow Christ, but instead is pretending to be a Christian to boost his image and pride. I’ve been kicked out of Christian circles before because they didn’t want truth or for God to rule their lives or to get rid of the stuff in their lives that harmed them and others — not to mention their witness to others. But I guess I never get used to it. I guess it never stops hurting. I guess I’m never NOT surprised. There are many, many, many who are part of the churches, but not part of the True Church — the Bride. I see them like the nobles in the movie Braveheart. They constantly betray. I try to love them, but I just keep praying that God will do whatever it takes in their lives to cause them to come into alignment with Him and “never be on the wrong side again” (for their own sake, at least). Otherwise, they will only make more professed followers after their own hearts rather than followers after God’s Own Heart. They would only create more harlots who hurt God’s Heart and crucify Him on the Cross through His people that He abides inside of. And those who would truly seek God they would destroy with every effort. I know this sounds harsh, but I’ve just been through a battle and seen the ugliness of a person’s heart that seeks to honor themselves in God’s Name and it really made me angry and incredibly hurt towards their kind and I don’t want any who come after me to have to meet the hatred that I just met under the disguise of Christianity — false Christianity, it is.
I guess that’s a long way of saying the verses you quoted hit deep and met their target and helped me to feel not-so-alone on my path. Thanks.

I really like what you have said in this post. Very good to think on. We are excited to be making plans to attend your Dallas conference this summer! My daughters will love it, I am sure…Thanks for your blog and all you do!!!

Thanks!

Often when considering the issue of guidance and direction, I consider how a vessel at sea works. When simply adrift, with no way on (sitting still in the water), the master can turn the rudder any way he chooses with absolutely no result. And so the vessel does not have any direction, she merely drifts. BUT–as soon as the vessel gets some way on (begins to move), turning the rudder WILL certainly change her direction. This is well illustrated in the passages regarding the Macedonian Call. As long as those men kept moving in SOME direction, the Spirit was easily able to change that direction and move them to where HE desired them to labour. Had they got to the first city and taken posh lodgings, they’d likely have died there. Surely, they’d not ever have got to Macedonia. The Lord would have raised up others to fulfil that mission. Even so, Hudson Taylor, once having got to China and finding his means of support and contacts had vanished, could easily have taken ship back to England, figuring he’d been in error in regards his call. But no, he remained, continuing to move forward as able, until gradually, he found his way open. The rest is well documented, and very inspiring to read. Had he found things as expected in the “western sector” upon arrival, he’d have likely remained there, doing as those before him there had done. Instead, by moving forward continually, he (breaking with ALL tradition) adopted Chinese dress and habits, and was able to move freely throughout the whole of China, establishing churches in every province. He went to where no westerner had ever gone, spent his life there. He could have been safe (and done little) back in Liverpool or London……but he pressed forward, not backward. God made the “steering corrections”.

I agree that one way of finding God’s Will is moving forward and allowing Him — or even asking Him — to stop us if we are wrong in direction. But that is not the least painful way.

I learned by reading Isobel Kuhn’s book — through her life lesson — to wait on God’s Will before moving out — even if I am being called out and pushed forward by everyone and everything else. I am very grateful that I read about what she learned when I did — when I was still pretty young. It saved me ALOT of heartache. I know this because I have seen alot of heartache in others’ lives because they have moved on ahead without God’s go-ahead.

On the other hand, one guy I know literally REFUSED to seek God’s Will / spend time with God, so the only way for him to find God’s Will became to go on with his own plans and ask God to stop him if he was wrong. This guy is not someone I would want a life like, though. God HAS stopped him in alot of things since he gave God welcome permission to intervine, but it has not been pretty or easy. The ways God has had to stop him and turn him in the right direction have sometimes been very tough to handle and even tramatic (as a lesson to remember to keep him off wrong paths in the future).

From what I remember of Hudson’s books, it was best when he learned to simply rest in God and allow God to Guide him forward — and then that he accomplished the tasks set out for him with the most efficiency.

I am not saying it is totally bad to go forward and ask God to correct our direction if we are headed wrong. I am only saying that I think that that is not the BEST way — it is merely a beginning. Once we know God more fully / have a closer walk with Him, I believe we move on to better ways of determining / finding out what His Will is.

Just as, when we first become Christians, we may obey God out of fear of punishment for our sins or because we believe there is reward in following His Commandments. But when we become the Bride, it goes beyond that. It’s a new level. The laws aren’t just laws. They are written on our hearts. And we abide by them out of LOVE for God — because we love Him too much to do things that hurt Him and we know Him well enough to know what hurts Him.

This isn’t an analysis of your relationship with God — any of you. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t do that. I’m only saying this because I think it is good to press further in our relationship with God — to keep getting to know Him better and be brought into alignment with Him even more so. I am only encouraging moving forward in the growth of our relationship with God — just as one would move from acquaintances to friends to best friends to courtship to marriage with a mate.

And as far as the Macedonian call, it doesn’t say in the Bible what would have happened if they had stayed put until God told them where to go. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have been Guided just the same? Who’s to say they were supposed to try to enter places they weren’t supposed to go to? I wouldn’t assume so much. And it doesn’t say how they were “stopped” from entering those places. It might not have been very pleasant. I know it hasn’t been fun for people I’ve seen stopped by God in their pursuits.

I do agree in being prepared as we wait though. Like if danger is coming, you can pack while you wait to find out if God wants you to stay or leave so that you can obey Him at a moments notice if He says to leave, yet there’s no harm done if you stay. We should always be prepared to obey God immediately. I myself have done this.

Check out Hudson’s book on Song of Songs. It has some very good points about moving forward in knowing God and about becoming God’s Bride.

It’s exciting to talk to someone who has read the same book as me (Hudson’s biography). Did you read the two-part biography or the autobiography that used to be called “Retrospect” or “To China With Love” or the shorter “abriged”-like biography, “Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”?
Did you know that he read the Bible through 40 times in 40 years? That’s a pretty weighty accomplishment.

Thanks for the talk.

I guess you could say its like a Settlers of Catan (which is a board game)
Your hustling to get something while you wait to get something else.
But maybe i am wrong

I just want to say thanks for taking the time to post these, there a great encouragement to me!

Thank you, Alex and Brett, for posting these entries. They have been such an encouragement to me!

Jeff: Sorry, I’m not Catholic.

Nicole: I am not catholic either

That was a great Post! It was a great encouragement to me.
Thanks!

Nicole, Jeff:You guys are funny.

“Funny ha ha or funny strange?”

“hustle while you wait”… that will definitely stay with me thanks!

This is so true! I’m one who loves to look toward the future, but while doing that, I often miss out on what I can do now. There’s a song by Hyper Static Union called, “Right Where You Want Me,” talking about how God has you right where He wants you for this time, and being happy during this time being used by Him no matter what the situation is!

That’s very good! I like that “hustle while you wait”. I have to wait, alot.
I feel like all I do is sit and do tiny, unimportant things. Sometimes it makes me mad, but I felt alot better after reading the post. Thankyou!

This is perfect for what I’m going through right now! Thank you so much!!!

Thank you so much for that post! Just like in my 1st year in basketball! I was kinda like a benchwarmer! Not playing a whole lot at all! But if I practice (Hustle) while I am not playing in a game or at home (While I wait) maybe i can play more! So thank you so much!

Like the John Waller song in Fireproof, Worship While I’m Waiting.

Thank you so much for posting this! This article just made my day! i will keep this in my long-term-memory. =)

This is a great point and I’m glad I read it. It’s funny, though, because God has just recently been teaching me this
I read Do Hard Things last summer and absolutely loved it. It was the first “teen” book I read that I felt recognized me as an intelligent adult – that meant a lot to me. But although I prayed about where to go next and what “hard things” to do, I’ve been having trouble waiting for God’s guidance. I’ve been waiting for Him to direct me with school now and with university, but I haven’t been getting answers. But I just recently realized that God hasn’t given me next steps because I’m not done THIS step. Whatever I know about what He wants me to do now – do my best in school, help around the house, develop the talents and skills He has given me – THAT’s what I need to focus on now. But what if that doesn’t seem “hard” enough? Do those things count as a “hard” thing, or am I just jumping the gun? I believe that God has called me to excellence in all things, the big and the small. If I’m not getting directions to a bigger, “harder” thing, then maybe I’m not doing to smaller things to the best of my ability!
So, I recently made what I call a commitment to excellence with God. That means that all the things I do, no matter how small they seem, I want to do them excellently! And that IS a hard thing – to push myself, to commit, to hustle while I wait!
Thanks guys and God bless

@ Jess Itzel

Hey Jess I know you in a way! You know my bff Shauna A. Daughter of Paul A. from OAC. You know who I mean!

So….hi!

Haha abbie your so funny! I totally agree with Jess I.!!!

This message really spoke to me. When I first started reading Do Hard Things I really wanted to start doing hard things. So I prayed for a while for God to show me what he wanted me to do. Unfortunatly, my attitude was to sit back and relax while I wait. That is the attitude that a lot of people, well teenagers, in our generation have these days. But we need to get prepared. We need to takle the little things in our lives before we can takle the big things. Start with school. Make sure that you are giving 110% at school. School not only teaches you basic things you need in your life, it also helps you make good decisions and it helps your social life too. Move on spiritually too. Make sure you are always growing in Christ so that God can give you your job and you can be prepared for everything. See? You are hustling while you are waiting. Then in the end it all adds up and you can do your job better.

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