The Waiting Season

We all have all dealt with waiting on a breakthrough, answered prayer, miracle, etc. Join Matt & Melissa as they discuss the "Waiting Season". 

@puzzleisreal

@missjean21

@mateopisani

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Puzzle is Real podcast where we will be discussing faith, family, and Relationships hosted by Matt and Melissa Pisani. This is The Puzzle is Real podcast when you know, you know.

Speaker 2: 0:15

All right , welcome back. We're excited today for another conversation episode with my lady, miss Jean , another

Speaker 3: 0:23

Episode

Speaker 2: 0:24

And mags on the same family relationship. Like , know Leah Joy. Alright , Ika is my boy. Where's Mercy? They're not here. Okay, so we are back. This is parent life. I hope this podcast is giving you the excitement to conquer the day and to do the things that God's called you to do. We're a family. We are . That's Magnolia. That's Magnolia. We have a podcast called The Puzzle is Real. That's what you're listening to right now and I hope that you will give us a , um, subscribe on the podcasting world, whether it's Spotify, iHeartRadio, apple, iTunes, that's probably the easiest. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . And , um, yeah, just share it with your friends. Sharing these is like ammo against the enemy schemes. I really believe that when you share these, these are just more arrows in the quiver perhaps, that you would use them to combat against the day to day . And we believe that these are opportunities for us to just testify that God is good all the time and all the time. God is good. So understood. Here we go.

Speaker 3: 1:26

So we were just discussing prior to hitting record about the waiting season. And I know that there's a lot of people out there that are in that season, and I know we've been there before and we're still there because, you know, you're still waiting for certain things to unfold. Um, but how are we surrendering it to God and saying, this is not under my timing, it's under your timing. Whether it's you waiting for your child, whether it's an opportunity at work, whether it's a, to get married , um, to find your person. If you're in that waiting season, where, how do we find contentment during that season of waiting? Where are we getting our joy from when we are anxious maybe or fearful? And we know that these things are not of God, right? The anxiousness, the fearfulness, the doubt. Um , we're human , so we have these thoughts, but how are we filling our minds with what God's word says? And are we trusting him with our full faith? Um , knowing that his timing supersedes our timing every single time because he sees the whole picture. We only see what we're waiting for in that moment. But he sees 5, 10, 20, 30 years from out and says, if this doesn't happen at this time, then everything else is not gonna lie. So

Speaker 2: 2:46

Yeah. So we've said this before, but I cannot say it enough. Like we are gonna always testify to how God brought us together. It's the only reason we do this is because we want people to know of not only God's timing, but his faithfulness. We were in toxic relationships before we met each other. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . We were living crazy lifestyles in different ways. And, and Melissa's might not be crazy defined as mine is crazy, but it wasn't glorifying God. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . So I think that's important sometimes . Like , oh, well you're your testimony's wild versus like someone that's just lived in sin but didn't have a crazy story. And I think that it's important that for those of you listening, waiting for your, your soulmate, your significant other, and those that are waiting on something really important in their life, regardless of what it is that you give it to God , when we stopped trying to look for our person and we looked towards the cross towards who Jesus is and who God has reminded us of , of how he provides and , and who he is as our savior, and also as our father and as our, our loving and heavenly Abba . Right. Abba . And , and even just the idea that there is this relationship not religion that he wants with us. When we ruin our relationship with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, it allowed us to have patience. It allowed us to have the fruit that only God can provide. And we met each other on a blind date through a friend, through a mutual friend, our hairdresser. And that opened up the doorway to breakthrough and prayers answered instantaneously. And what I mean by that is we not only got married very quickly. Right. Within six months, about six months. Yeah. We were engaged within four weeks. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . I was 33 years old, Melissa was 31. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . And fast forward almost 10 years of marriage with three children and just an amazing calling on our life that we've been pursuing. And I say that humbly, but I'm just thankful. So what does it mean to wait and what does it mean to surrender to God? And and what are the things that are stopping you from having that breakthrough of what you're waiting on? Sometimes it's practical things like you're not being a good steward of your finances or you're not being a good steward of your time. Sometimes it's more intense than that and it's something that needs to break spiritually in your life. It could be even , uh, lifestyle choices that lead you to continue to be in the waiting room. But whatever that reason is, God has the answer and the solution as you continue to seek him. The the season can be long, right? Some people get married in their twenties. Some people get their job promotion in their twenties. Some people find their, their vocation or their calling right out of high school or the family business. Some of us we're late bloomers, as I like to call it . And , and I always remind people of part of my testimony where I lived in my parents' basement with a significant amount of debt, with no hope in sight, in an addiction that was mastering me with both drugs and alcohol and, and being in such a, a bad spot spiritually that , um, I was very distant from God until I recommitted my life to Jesus. That's when everything shifted. And it didn't even happen overnight. I still went through years of building and what I believe , uh, pruning. So if you've been in that season of waiting for years, keep pressing in, keep moving forward for that first child. Keep moving forward for that relationship or for that restoration of family. And um, and God's gonna do it. I truly believe it. That he's faithful and his timing is perfect.

Speaker 3: 6:30

Yeah. And I think that when you try to do things on your own accord, it's not gonna work the way that God wants it to work. When we try to force something that we want, 'cause that's a desire of our heart, but it's not in God's will. Maybe it's not the right timing, the not the right situation. It's going to look ugly every single time. And you're gonna , you're not gonna be happy when you get there 'cause you're trying to do something on your own when you have to release that and surrender it to say, God, I want you to fulfill this in your timing and your perfect will. So I think that's something that we're learning every single day because sometimes even Matt and I are talking about like what we're doing next, and it's like, well, let's wait on the Lord. What does he want us to do next? Because we, we have all these ideas, but are they God's ideas or are they our ideas? And you have to discern and cipher through and see what really gives you peace because the decisions that you're making, if it doesn't have God's peace behind it, it's going to feel uncertain. And I think that that's something that I've learned over time. And you know, we were at a small group yesterday that we just joined. And I was just saying the way that I talk now, prior to, you know, 10 years ago, Melissa, totally different person. And that's why people even now, even family members are like, oh, you're so different. You talk different, you act different. And it's like, mommy . Yeah, because I have a relationship with my creator. He has changed me. You know, we are supposed to be brand new. We're supposed to be a new creation when we give our life to Christ. And , but I wasn't always that way. I was in a waiting season. And it wasn't until I fully surrendered my life to Christ that that waiting season started, I started to see, okay , that's Magnolia. Sorry guys. This is real life. Um, so it wasn't until I fully surrendered my life and God started to line things up because he was like, okay, you're finally ready because you fully surrendered what I wanted you to, for me to give you these blessings. And it's not this prosperity message of, you know, when you do this, you're gonna get that. It's more about he wants to have our heart, he wants to have our obedience, and he wants to know that we're fully sold out for him. And 'cause he could do anything at any time. So we just have to fully give it to him and trust him without hesitation and without reservations. And I think that's a lot for people to do because it's like jumping out of an airplane and you're not knowing if you're , if the parachute's gonna come out. But knowing the character of God and being in the word and knowing who he is, you have a freedom in that because you know that he is good, you know, that he is merciful and he does give good gifts to his children. Doesn't mean that there's not discipline, there doesn't mean there's not pruning, there's, you know, there's sanctification. There's all these things that he will do just as you're as if you're parent. You know, you have to train up your child and discipline and do certain things that are hurt, may hurt at the time, but you know that they're gonna be better for it if they have the discipline and they have the maturity , um, as they're growing to just know that certain choices are not right by how we're raising them up. So I think that's the best way I can explain it. But yeah,

Speaker 2: 9:54

When you're waiting, I think it's important that you have not only , um, endurance, right? But you also, you continue to stay steadfast in prayer. And there's a flip side to this, right? We're talking about all the ways that God's blessed us, but at the same token, there are people out there that are praying for loved ones to come back to God. Right? There's, there's not just the desires of what we want for ourself , but we want for others, we want to see other family members get saved and friends that don't understand what it means to sacrifice and to , um, surrender and, and even to, to give of self, right? So it's important that as, as you're going through the process of waiting on the Lord, look at the fruit of, of prayers answered, right? Whether you journal, which is really a great thing to do, I encourage you to do it. And, and you've documented things that have happened in the past, but you haven't journaled in a while . Continue to journal and, and write and have that conversation with God. And then look back at old timestamps, old dates of when God showed up and answered prayer. And we've talked about this in the past where we've looked at old prayer lists that we've had, where we've dated it, and we've written down a list of things that we wanted to pray for or people needs. And we've seen through the years, these prayers not only been answered, but supersede what the focus was. Right? So, so someone was praying for each of us before we came to Jesus. And that's just a , a great reminder that , um, yeah, it took a while maybe for, for us, right? And people must have like , oh man, what are these people gonna get their act together? You know, I'm speaking to myself now mm-hmm <affirmative> . And , and sometimes we can be easily looking at people outside of our circles saying like, oh man, I can't believe the way that they're, they're speaking. I can't believe they're living their life. And I think it's just important for us to constantly pray and , and pray without ceasing that there would be a breakthrough in our loved one's lives and our friends and our coworkers to have that same contentment and that same joy and love and peace that we have. So, so we just thank you guys for constantly pursuing God and pursuing all that he has for you. And we're just praying and believing that as you continue to draw closer to God, as you continue to build intimacy, that there is going to be a , a measurably more in all that he has for you. And that the prayer list that you have, the things that you're waiting on for breakthrough, are going to be answered in his timing and that you're gonna have a great testimony. So if you've already had that testimony, share it with us. And we just hope that you guys find this as just another nugget, another extension of God's grace and mercy, and just another encouragement to continue to run this race. We'll see you guys soon.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to The Puzzle Is Real podcast . Please subscribe today and share with a friend . See you soon .