Waiting for Answers
Have you been praying for something for so long, you are about to give up? It is difficult to ‘wait on the Lord’ for renewal and answers.
Jesus said, ‘I am the Road, the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father apart form me.” John 14:6 (The Message)
Why do we pray, if you’re pretty sure God’s going to do it His way anyway? Is all your begging and pleading going to change a thing? Is prayer ‘Christian superstition’?
Truth is a person. When you accepted Christ as your Savior, He didn’t give you a ‘thing’ He gave you Himself . He doesn’t just give you truth — He is truth! When you give Him your requests, you can be certain He holds them dearly. He holds you to His heart, and your life is more than ‘hocus-pocus’, a toss-of-the-dice, or ‘cookie crumbles’.
Prayer is a two-way conversation. It is not just dumping on Him — it’s listening to Him. Prayer is designed to adjust you to God. His truth sets people free.
Have you been praying for something for so long, you are about to give up? It is difficult to ‘wait on the Lord’ for renewal and answers. (He isn’t marked with an ‘expiration date’). But He holds truth and time.
When my daughter, Kelly, was just a little girl, she would go into my jewelry box and try on all my ‘bling’. She loved it. I loved her. I knew how happy it would make her if I were to say, “Honey, here. I want you to have all my jewelry!” But I knew if I gave it to her before the time was right, it would be lost forever. So, I’m saving it for the right time. She may not agree. She could have begged, pleaded, cried and stormed. I would have comforted her, reassured her and dried her tears. I wouldn’t have given her the jewelry. But I would always remember how much she wanted it. Kelly is old enough now to know that I did the right thing. She may still feel like “now is as good as a time as any”. But it isn’t. My timetable may not be perfect. But God’s is. He will give us what we need exactly when we need it. Because Jesus is the truth. He holds our lives in three-dimension.
During Biblical times, animal skins were used to hold precious wines. As long as they were softened and kneaded and pliable, they worked. If they were put on the shelf, they would y up and become brittle. It would not be wise to put good wine into old brittle, moldy and broken down wineskins.
Do you feel ‘shelved’? You may be on the shelf, waiting to the right situation to hold something precious. But when it becomes time, you had better be fresh, softened and pliable enough to do some good. Shelves hold ‘temporary’? God may not give you something precious to hold just because you tell him you want it and think you can handle it. Jesus knows the truth, and His timing is perfect. Pray, ‘be still’ and listen. Feel the warmth of His loving hands softening you up for the great thing He has for you to do.
You cannot do it alone. He can and He will, if you don’t fight Him for control.
If ‘God is your co-pilot, something is wrong in the cockpit! Give Him your life, your talent and the time He needs to do His work. He will not be forced into your timetable, because your timetable is not accurate.
His reality is truth and He works it together for your good.
Beg and plead. And then, listen!
“Be still and know…” Psalm 46:10
copyright Judi Collins 2011; Used by permission from her devotional “Listen.”
