Waiting on God’s Perfect Plan
UPdate Partner Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 1
by Jeff Olinghouse
Dear Partners and Friends,
Ever since March 2020, Mica and I have set aside this season as a time of prayer and consecration. While many may not see us publicly, we are making our voices known privately to the Lord in the Secret Place. We are earnestly seeking the Lord, His wisdom, His guidance, His counsel, and His plan for our lives and ministry.
I learned in 2020 that God gave us all equal opportunity to hear from Him and to adjust many things in life and in our approach to ministry. During that season, God began to correct me in several areas where I had tried to move too fast without getting the complete plan of God. I understand the meaning now of Proverbs 19:2 (NIV), which states, “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”
When we have a plan, it’s not always God’s approved plan. This is why we must learn to grow in patience even in waiting on the Lord. Galatians 5 instructs us that one of the fruit of the spirit is patience. If there’s anything that I took away from this season, it is learning to be patient in and with God’s plan and timing.
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 tells us that for everything there is a proper time and procedure. It’s imperative to understand God’s proper time and procedure in all that we do. This requires much time waiting alone on God in prayer to process all the answers, directions, and instruction necessary for the next season of our lives.
During this time of prayer and correction, God began to show me the importance of His timing. When things are in God’s timing, everything falls into God’s proper order. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together to them that love God and are called according to His design and purpose.
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God’s Plan Is Not Man’s Plan
I want to encourage you if things may not be working together in your life or ministry, you may want to step back from your plan and get the specifics on God’s plan. Ask Him for His timing, instruction, direction, and even correction. He is faithful to show you what to do, what steps are missing, and what correction is necessary.
One of the most valuable things that God can do is correct us. Hebrews 12 reminds us that correction is of God and comes from His Father’s heart of love towards us. We can be thankful when God corrects us because that’s His heart of love towards us as His children. As we all make adjustments in our lives, we must recognize God’s timing. With His timing comes His purpose. With His purpose comes His provision, and with His provision comes His divine Open Door. Our willingness to wait on God will bring rich, lasting fruit for the eternity. This will enable us to be Advancers of the Kingdom!
God’s Word Prioritizes Discipleship
For us, 2022 has been a year of God’s faithfulness being revealed in our lives. We’ve witnessed God’s sustaining power from 2020 to early 2022. As we’ve shared before, God’s sustaining power kept us and our businesses alive and well during a very difficult time in the world and especially in the travel industry. As we moved into 2022, we saw an increase financially and are in full recovery and restoration! This is truly the hand of the Lord as He has taken care of us and the needs of our family, businesses, and the ministry. We’ve not relied on anyone else or the government. We’ve simply relied on the Word of God and His faithfulness to fulfill it in our lives.
While we have not been traveling for ministry or the business as much as we have in the past, we still have been ministering to others as the opportunities arise. In 2021, we ministered in a handful of churches and even spoke at a friend’s funeral. Along with this, we’ve continued our Kingdom Advancers prayer group inside our home and have enjoyed seeing the fruit of this discipleship ministry. The Russian-speaking family that was a part of our group for 2 years recently moved out of state and are actively ministering to the Russian-speaking community there. We rejoice in God’s victories and are blessed to see fruitfulness in the lives of others!
In March of this year, we had the opportunity to teach virtually in the Dunamis Bible school in Croatia. We always enjoy teaching and preaching the Word of God to hungry hearts! We look forward to being back in Europe to minister in person in the not-so-distant future.
RELATED: Are We Working with God’s Process?
God Needs Laborers in Prayer
Over the past year, the Lord has called upon us to intercede for many in the Body of Christ who are in the valley of decision. We don’t take this assignment lightly, for many lives and eternities hang in the balance. We understand the soberness of the hour and are humbled that God would have us intercede on behalf of others. We’re already starting to see supernatural turnarounds in certain situations that have been our assignments in prayer. We look forward to many more answered prayers to come, and we rejoice in what God is already doing in this very critical time in the Body of Christ.
If your prayer life is not in the place you know it should be, I encourage you to pull yourself away from the things that would distract you. Begin to ask God what assignment He would have you to pray for in the Kingdom. God needs laborers, and this includes laborers in prayer for the Body of Christ. When you come before God with a humble heart, He will show you what is on His heart and how to pray effectively. James 5:16 says, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. I encourage you to come into a place of consecration, remove the hindrances of whatever might be blocking God’s plan for your life, and allow the Holy Spirit to show you His perfect direction and plan.
Regarding the remaining portion of 2022, we are prayerfully getting the instructions necessary for our move to the New York City Metro Area. However, due to many changes and the inflation of the housing market in Connecticut, we find it prudent to wait on purchasing a home and relocating until God’s Open Door is available. We look forward to that step but are content in serving Him no matter where we are or how long it takes us to get to our appointed place. We refuse to have hasty feet and miss God’s plan!