Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.…(Psalm 116:7)
Do you ever question if God is working? You’ve been praying for quite some time and all you can see is the evidence of things not moving towards your favor. Life keeps going, but God seems silent on the matter. People still walk away, the healing didn’t take place, and what was broken still remains.
I understand all of that. I really do. But friend, what God is teaching me is that prayer is not about the answer. It’s more about the waiting. The waiting teaches us to trust and hold on. It reminds us that we are not God. It keeps us humble and growing. It makes us wait because God has something better if we’d be patient enough to wait for it.
I know what you’re thinking though, but what if God doesn’t come through! What if all this waiting is for nothing! Friend, each time you wait, you’re simply allowing God more time to wrap the gift He’s been wanting to give. There’s things He’s working out you can’t see, people’s hearts He’s changing, along with your own.
That’s where God meets us. Not so much when the gift is received, although He certainly meets us there, but when we’re waiting for the gift. I understand though, you want the gift now. But friend, if you got it now, you wouldn’t be ready for it. Don’t you see, whatever He’s wrapping for you is what’s best and there might be parts of your character that need to grow first before you receive it.
There might be a mission He wants you to complete before He hands this gift to you. Stop looking for the gift and live on mission for today. We will miss opportunities to be His hands and feet if we keep looking instead of resting in His promises for us today. So don’t go thinking your life will have purpose, safety or security when this gift finally comes, but realize that is available for you today, even if the cup isn’t overflowing with what gives you a deep sense of purpose, safety and security. God might just be trying to strip you of that self-reliance first. After all, He’s teaching you that rest in Him is what you need, because He will provide for you there.
Lord, why would I ever doubt your love? Why would I question your provision? Forgive me when I do. I want to be like you, now and forever, Amen.
Heather Quiroz 