As we see time pass, and hopes and prayers go unanswered, we can lose our patience and our perspective, imagining that God’s time is the same as ours. But it’s not, and our patience would grow if we remembered that.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Have you ever wanted something badly? So much that you hoped and prayed for it for weeks, months, maybe even years?
I know people who do this. I am a person who does this. And after some time, one way or another, we usually get an answer.
Sometimes it’s in the form of a new job, an opportunity that dries up, a positive pregnancy test, or a meet-cute. We get our answer in the things that suddenly become available or unavailable. We are guided by an invisible force, the Holy Spirit at work within us and around us.
But sometimes there is no answer. Not a “no” nor a “yes,” leaving us wondering if God even heard us at all. But how is that possible, especially if we’ve been praying long and hard for a while?
It’s so easy to forget that God is not like us. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) and His time is not our time. We get impatient when we think about the years we’ve been waiting, but for God, those years are just a flash.
When you are the creator of the world, the Alpha and the Omega, time takes on a different context.
Have patience with God as He has patience with you
God hears our prayers. All of them. From the largest to smallest, when we pray for safety from a pandemic and when we pray for relief from a hangnail. God hears them all.
But we can’t expect God to answer our prayers according to our plans and expectations. God’s plan is the one that will play out in our lives and that sometimes means being patient while he works.
I love this meme of Jesus talking to a little girl who has a small teddy bear. He is asking her to give it to him, but she is holding on, not sure. Behind His back, he holds one twice its size.
That’s what God is doing. He is asking for our trust and patience, to believe in His timing and not our own. And when we remember that He always works for our good, we are rewarded with more than we ever asked for.
God isn’t slow in fulfilling promises. God is waiting for the perfect time to fulfill them perfectly.
He is patient with us, as we struggle through sin and distrust and faithlessness. Can we not be patient as well?
I think we can. When we allow faith and trust in the Lord to guide us, we can be patient as we wait for God’s perfect timing.
Have a blessed Monday!
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