When God says, Delete.

I was so frustrated.

I’d been obeying God, getting up early, trying to finish the book. That was the command and I was trying to follow through. Just one problem. He wasn’t telling me what to write! Everyday I would sit in front of my computer and wait. And wait and wait and wait. On Monday my dad came in to watch the kids. I sat in front of my computer for four hours straight without writing a word. I wanted to scream. I only have so much time to work on this, Lord! Do you understand?

Also please understand, I can’t write by myself. I cannot write anything worthwhile without God’s gracious Spirit. So it wasn’t as if I just needed to “try harder”… I was trying to obey and He wouldn’t tell me what to write! Also understand–for me, writing is like breathing. If I can’t write it feels like i’m choking. I write to think, write to process, write to hear from God.

So finally I tried to just pound out some sentences as best as I could. I didn’t like any of them, but I had to do something, right? I couldn’t just sit there and wait and wait and wait! There are things to do!

So I tried to just keep moving. And while it’s true that I did spend time just sitting and waiting, I began to just do my best trudging forward. I didn’t really like anything I wrote, but eventually at the end of the agonizing two weeks I had 5,000 words, almost an entire chapter completed.

Then Friday came. Jeff had the kids. I sneaked away to write. I got down on my face to pray, ask God for direction. And He gave it:

Delete it.

Excuse me?  Delete what?

The chapter. The whole thing. Delete the whole thing and start over. 

What?!  It has taken me two agonizing weeks to choke out all those words! I have a big speaking engagement around the corner and two more chapters to write, Bible study to do, I don’t have time to start over!!  

Delete it and start over. 

I just laid there. I couldn’t believe it. Although, in a way I knew. This chapter is on Time, and what better way to learn about our sacred mundane use of time than to trust Him with it in this crazy way?

Ok, I’ll start over.

I deleted the old chapter, opened a new document. Would it take another two weeks to complete? Stared at the blank screen. Prayed.

By 4pm it was done. 

The whole chapter. Completely re-written. He gave every single word in one gracious download. I even had time afterwards to make dinner for the Patterson-Seifers and join them as we sod-cut the ground for our family garden!

God holds our times. He is not limited by our time constraints. God can make something out of nothing. And when God says, Delete! we had better obey. He has something better to give us.

Also this week I had a God-ordained meeting with a dear girl in the middle of a struggle. It became clear as we talked that God was giving her a huge Delete! command in her own life. A life-changing Delete command. Would she do it? It was huge, would require major life adjustments. Would she obey?

She did. Haleljujah! 

And later, as she followed through on the delete, God too blessed her with more than before.

His ways are not our ways. We think when we delete something we lose. But when God deletes something, we gain. 

{Is there anything God is asking you to delete today? Trust Him and do it! Thanks for reading.}