Rats! January 8, 2015

Going through a tough time?  Situation out of hand?  Take heart downtrodden.

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.  Psalm 37:4,5 ESV

There is your way out.  Delight in the LORD and all will be well.  Just a sec. . .   Hold on. . .  RATS!

⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; 
⁹ but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

You mean the delight, the desires, the good stuff won't be immediate?  God requires patience?  I might have to go through this mess for a while?!

In my life I am guilty of holding God to the parts of His word that I most want to hear.  Give me the desires of my heart.  Act for me.  Give me my inheritance.

But I fail to claim the "wait" part of His promises.  There are times when the answers may be immediate, but more often than not, those answers to prayers lay somewhere in the future.  He may have a season of suffering, pain, and uncertainty planned.

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  Romans 5:3,4 ESV

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 ESV

¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 ESV

We must trust God to not only heal our afflictions and give us the desires of our hearts, but also trust in His timeline.  Our faith is strengthened by those blessings that are delayed.

I have the crying out to God part down.  It is the waiting patiently that gives me trouble.