My hands were sweaty, my heartbeat fast and I sat stiff on that courtroom chair nearly two decades ago. My first days as a court interpreter were grueling. They were brutal and the stress almost defeated me. “Mrs. Eckles, approach the bench,” the judge said during one of the sessions. I froze, swallowed hard and headed toward him. I trembled. Judges judge you, exert punishment, and sometimes might even dictate your destiny. To my shock, rather than reprimand, his words were ones of affirmation and praise about my job as an interpreter. They didn’t hold condemnation or harshness. I hope you don’t do what I did when approaching God’s divine bench. When Christ lives in us, His words ring different than what we expect. Rather than scolding, He gives reassurance. Rather than punishment, He extends mercy. Rather than condemnation, He gives us forgiveness. While the world becomes a grueling place to live, He gives His word to speak to our soul:
Source: What to do when standing before the judge. | Janet Perez Eckles
What’s Been Happening
There was a loud buzz on a recent Monday afternoon in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Orlando. About 1,500 attendees were exiting with suitcase in hand and expectations in their heart. The John Maxwell speaker/coaching training just ended. And His team, no doubt, equipped these folks with knowledge, strategies, information, methods, and tons of inspiration.
Way, way inside of me is a burning desire to attend such training. And when I asked God about that, He said, “In my timing and in my way.”
Don’t you just love it when God gives you the answer? Sometimes He says “no,” sometimes He says, “yes,” and sometimes He says, “not yet.”
So my challenge to you is to ask you: what do you do while you wait for His answer?
Here’s to the joy that fills your heart while in the waiting room of faith.
Old Things R New 