This past weekend I was blessed to be able to attend “The Women of Faith Conference” for the 3rd year in a row. And it was fantastic to say the least, but the awesome thing about it all, is how God continues to work this out for me, and that is what I want to share today. God’s time!
I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with “The Women of Faith Conference” but it is sort of a big deal here in the USA. I don’t see where they do anything internationally so I would have to say they seem to be centered in North America. http://womenoffaith.com/
The conference originated in 1996 and started coming to Philadelphia in 2000. I first heard about it about 6 or 7 years ago and wanted to attend from that moment on. But each year when it rolled around, I was not able to purchase a ticket. I felt sort of left out because as an inner city missionary who gave a lot to others, people would constantly tell me how wonderful it was and that I should go, but never offered a hand to get me there. But as I kept growing in the Lord, I came to the understanding that if I was supposed to be there then God would make the way. This helped to take the sting out of not being able to go and people telling me what I missed. Because the truth was, “I had missed nothing.” If I didn’t get to go, then it was not God’s will for me, so how could I have missed something?
I want to expound a little more on that, because as women we have a tendency to freely tell other women what they’ve missed and we really need to stop that. The only time we miss anything, is if the Lord instructed us to do something or be somewhere and we were disobedient and did not follow His instruction. So stop going up to women and telling them what they missed because you didn’t see them Sunday at service, or a concert or any of the many different functions churches have. We have no right to make the assumption that because they weren’t there that they missed anything. How awful we make others feel when we do this. Please sisters, stop and think the next time you share with another sister how nice a certain function or conference was that they did not attend. Just tell them how nice it was for you, but leave out the “Girl, you missed it!”
Now, back to growing to the point of realizing that if God wanted me to be somewhere I would be there. This changed my life in a big way. I stopped feeling left out across the board. If someone had something in there home and invited others that I knew but didn’t invite me, I no longer cared, because if I was supposed to be there then I would have been invited. If people informed me after the fact about something that I would have liked to have been a part of, it didn’t bother me because again, if God had wanted me there, I would have known before hand. This is an area of “freedom” for me that Galatians 5: 1 talks about.
I didn’t give up hope of going to The Women of Faith conference, but I just took each year as it came. And I was so pleasantly surprised on January 4, 2008, when I was given a check to purchase a ticket for the upcoming WOF conference that September. Wow!! I was happy and it was so unexpected. I went by myself and had a wonderful time. That’s where I met Maria Guzman (Life Unscripted) blogger and we have been friends ever since. Maria resides in Stanford, CT with her husband, two sons and mother. The following year, Rita (a friend) called to say that she could get discount tickets for us through a group. At the time I did not have the funds, and she was willing to purchase the tickets and I reimburse her. Well, I wasn’t sure I would be able to pay her back, but she reassured me that if for some reason I couldn’t it would be okay. Not only did God make sure I handed her the ticket money when we met up at the conference, but I had money for food and to purchase a couple of items at the conference! Now, we are in 2010, and yes, I wanted to go, because each time I’d been there was such a refreshing of my spirit that took place, but I didn’t think I was going this year because the price of a ticket was not in budget. And that was okay because if God wanted me there it would not be a problem. But guess what? He did want me there…LOL & Jumping for Joy!!!
Four days before the conference I received an inbox message from Esther-Marie, our guest “Travel & the Single Woman” blogger, asking me if I wanted to go to the conference on Friday and Saturday? She had a free ticket for me. As some of you know I am homeschooling my granddaughter and arrangements had to be made for her since Tovah was not going to be home. It all fell into place, 1-2-3!! No finagling! No manipulating!
Did I have a good time? You best believe it! And for many different reasons, but most of all it was so grand to be with Esther-Marie, her mother, sister and all the other women there who came to hangout. Steven Curtis Chapman was there, Mandisa, Sandi Patti, Patsy Clairmont and many others. I laughed, I cried, I sang, I prayed.
Sisters, we must continue to strive to grow in the knowledge of who God is. And in that knowledge we will come to see that His timing is perfect. The gift of this ticket came when I was tried, and feeling very dry in spirit. But I’d been feeling that way for sometime. There had been days, when I cried out to God, to show me that a change is coming that something is going to give. Yet, He was silent. Did His silence mean that He didn’t hear me or care? No, it just meant that I had to continue to trust Him. Not trust Him to do a particular thing, such as: “I’m trusting God to change my finances.” No, it was, “I am trusting God…period!” Because the truth is when we try to separate His care and provision into little compartments, we are most assuredly going to experience disappointment. But when we strive to trust God, because He is good and realizing that it all works together according to His will and plans, then even when things are tough, hard or really bad, we can stand on our hope that He has not forsaken us and has allowed whatever it is to be for this season. I got a break and refreshing when He knew I needed it the most, and it worked for everyone concerned, not just for me.
My dear sisters, God tells us that His ways are not our ways and that also translates into His timing is not our timing. There is an old saying that, “God comes at the 11th hour.” Well, that holds no truth to it whatsoever. The 11th hour insinuates that He just made it—whew!! But God is a God of purpose and planning and He is never late or just making it in the nick of time. His time is our perfect time, whether we think so or not.
When we can trust God to have perfect timing in our lives, we find more peace and joy than before. You no longer worry that your biological clock is ticking away, or feel desperate to be married, or get that new house, car or job. We’re not so quick to run out and make poor decisions because we feel God is taking too long and we might miss out if we don’t take things into our own hands. What happens is, we begin to find a place of rest and peace, reassured that He is taking care of it all, whether we have evidence of this or not.
Who is God to you? Do you really trust this God? These are 2 very profound questions to ponder on. I think you might be surprised at what comes up.
Love & Hugs
Ponnie
Wednesday's Blog: Ponnie, "Single & Loving It!"
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