What Will Waiting for God Do for You?

I don’t know who pointed her out to me, but I will never forget the moment she turned and I could see her. Xochitl Dixon. I’d heard amazing things about this woman, and couldn’t wait to meet her.

You know, technically, I never did. Oh, sure. I was introduced. We said hi. I’m pretty sure that at some point at that conference, she prayed for me. Probably, because she knew that if she didn’t, the food she would be served wouldn’t be edible.

I was in charge of food, you see. For a couple hundred people. Without the ability to actually cook anything. Yeah. The food crew needed help. It was my job to make sure people ate. I needed great, heaping gobs of help. A mutual friend said, “It’ll be fine. Xochit (Soh-chee) is praying.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this translated to, “God’s warrior is in conference with Him for you.”

Xochitl prayed for people all day, every day of that conference. I found out the next year, she prays for attendees of conferences… before they even arrive. For weeks and months before, she’s praying—for the attendees, the faculty, the place we’ll meet, the appointments God will arrange for His people.

And all while enduring excruciating pain. Almost all the time. I feel like we need a hashtag for her. #BecauseXochitl.

She’s been waiting for a solution to that pain—for healing for years. Waiting for God to do whatever it is He’s going to do for her. Growing, learning… is it any wonder that when I found out she’d written a book, Waiting for God I requested a review copy immediately?

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What Will Waiting for God Do for You?

If you’d told me someone could write a “feel good” book that is both hard-hitting and shows example after example of people going through suffering, sometimes without relief this side of heaven, I’d have laughed. That’s not how I define “feel good,” and it’s not how this Christian life thing is supposed to work. Right?

Ha! Sorry, but I always have trouble not laughing when people claim that God’s people will only have joy, peace, prosperity, and perfect health if their hearts are perfectly aligned with God.

See, I think that’s true. I really do.

The key phrase there is “perfectly aligned.” That happens in heaven, folks. Here, we’re still fallen, messed up creatures. Saved by God’s grace? Definitely. Given the ability to hold fast in tough times? Absolutely. Free from trials?

Not hardly.

So how is this a “feel good” book?

Time after time, story after story, Scripture after Scripture, Xochitl Dixon shows the faithfulness of God even in the dark, hard, horrible times. She reminds us of Who holds our faith and hope in His hands.

Not only that, she does it without climbing into a lofty tower, having cornered the market on spiritual things. No, slugging her way through the dark times alongside the rest of us, she admits her faults, her failings, her moments of frustration and despair.

I don’t know how she does it, but in the midst of all of it, her devotion to prayer, to the Word, and to encouraging the body of Christ, she shows just what living an authentic Christian life really looks like.

That’s what Waiting for God does for you.

It brings you back to the feet of Jesus, time and time again. In a brilliant turn of phrasing that I’m totally stealing here, Dixon’s book helps you grow from being a do-it-yourself disciple into one waiting on the Potter’s wheel, ready for Him to make of you and your life what He wills.

Waiting for His will.

Waiting for Him.

And, as she shows us in story after story, Scripture after Scripture, Jesus is always worth the wait.

Devotionals aren’t usually my forte, but the moment I saw Xochitl Dixon’s unique name on the cover, I immediately requested a free review copy. I wanted to love it, but… devotional…

I didn’t need to worry. The book lives up to its claim. Waiting for God really does teach and encourage us to trust daily in God’s plan and place.

Recommended for anyone who has ever wondered if God is even listening—if He even cares. Also recommended for those who care about careful attention to not putting words in God’s mouth. While I didn’t read every word of the book before writing this review, I didn’t find a single place where I went, “Where’s that in Scripture?” Even when she spoke of God whispering to her to wait, she shares that He used the Word… His words in the Word to do it.