Expect Delays

For the past 22 years now, country life has been the norm in our family. One thing we have learned over the years is to expect delays every now and then.

Some delays are pretty predictable. For instance, if we leave for town at a certain time, we will probably find ourselves behind a slow-moving chicken truck.

Other delays are rather unpredictable – like when the cows decide to cross the road…without their owner’s permission. 

Or, when the lost llama is trying to find its way back home.

Delays happen. No, they are not always convenient and sometimes, I’ll admit, they can be a little frustrating. But, there’s usually not much we can do about them but accept them, sit back and wait.

As we grow in our Christian walk, we should expect delays in our prayer lives. New believers often have immediate answers to prayers which serve as an encouragement to them in their new walk with the Lord. When God waits to answer the prayers of those who have been saved for a while, He is giving us the opportunity to grow. Perhaps there are still some areas in our lives that need “pruned” in order to prepare us for the blessing He is so ready and willing to give. Maybe He is allowing us to wait a little longer so that we will appreciate the answer that much more! I do know this – the Lord desires for our faith to be strengthened and what better way than to be pressed to pray more fervently? It was Charles Spurgeon who said:

“If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people.” ~ C. H. Spurgeon

It was Matthew Henry who said:

“Those that patiently wait for God shall be paid for their waiting, not only principal but interest”

Today, do you feel as if you are sitting in the middle of the road – praying and waiting…praying and waiting…praying and waiting? My friend, if your prayer is not contradictory to God’s Word and you have not received a definite “No” from Him, keep praying and waiting. In His time, He will answer.

“And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”  Isaiah 30:18