Staying faithful when we are asking God how much longer and waiting for what we prayed for.
The word patience, a word a lot of people do not want to hear and a thing most people, if not all, do not have. In a world where everything is instant, being patient and having this virtue is tough because it requires us to put away the fleshly desire of instant gratification. God is not worried about time or how soon you get things done or how soon he blesses you with something he promised you. It took 3 to 4 generations for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham of all the nations being blessed by him, and yet he fulfilled this promise on his own timing, not Abraham’s. We may be praying from a crushed spirit and heart, asking God why he has let certain things happen to us and when the suffering end. We may be praying as to why certain people in our lives have not turned to him or have not done certain things.
In these times of praying for something to change in our lives or someone else’s life, we must keep pressing and continuing to pray to God. Yes, it may seem like we are losing this fight spiritually and it may seem like the enemy is triumphing over us; however, we cannot lose our trust, hope, and faith in God’s character. God may seem far away from us in these times, like he is ignoring us because of some sin we did in the past that he has turned his anger toward us. This is what the enemy will want us to think, believe, and act on; he does this because he knows if he can get us to think like this, we leave open a door for him to sneak in and rampage our hearts. Do not lose your hope, continue to pray to God knowing that he will still love you, guide you, and know that he has heard your prayer. When you pray, have faith that he has heard you prayer and trust him with what you prayed knowing he will act upon it in due time.
He may testing your faith in him, so continue to trust him even when it hurts because you feel abandoned by him; remind yourself that God will never forsake nor abandon you. We have to keep trusting knowing that he will keep his promises on his timing and not our timing for he is concerned about eternity and our souls; we tend to care about now and our desires. In the midst we must still rejoice and worship him for who he is and what he has done, no matter how much your mind is telling you not to and have much your flesh doesn’t want you as well. Doing these simple things, even if it is just for a few minutes or simply listening, will keep you from going back to your sinful desires and ways. This will keep you on him as your rock and foundation to avoid falling back into the world, keeping you safe and losing progress that you have already worked so hard to get. This will also help us to renew our minds and souls, by reading at least a couple minutes a day if not more in order to keep our souls and minds refreshed by his bread and word for life.
In the midst of this, we must also still stay gracious to those who need even more help than us and provide for those we need it the most. We may be going through a tough time, but there are also people out there who are going through a tougher time and dying as a result. This test might be a way to see what you are thankful for and what areas of life you need to give to him and place your hope in him knowing that he is in control. Ultimately, we know God will keep his promises and we know that he hears our prayers; its how we handle the storms that determine the strength of our faith. We have to remain faithful, loving, hoping, trusting, praying, renewing, and rejoicing in the fact we know that he will fulfill on what he promised us. We know Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior kept his love, promises, and supplied for thousands off of seemingly what could only feed one family.
Let go of your worries, give God your prayers, desires, and ideas trusting that he will take care of them. God knows how precious they are to us, he will either change them or get rid of them in return for something much better that he has in mind for you. Do not fret when it seems like he is far off from you, he is always with you even if he remains silent on certain topics. Don’t forget what he has done in past for you and for others, remember those promises he has acted on and know that he doesn’t change. He is that God yesterday, today, and tomorrow; trust him entirely and know everything will be Okay, Amen!!!!