In His Time - Jan Keats

Have you been waiting a long time for an answer to prayer or for that something special to happen in your life? Do you feel the eagerness or anxiety? Some people cross off the days on a calendar in anticipation of an answer. It could be a prayer that you’ve been praying for a long period of time, or it could be an immediate need that requires steadfast prayer, or it could be an anticipation of a call to come through for that job offer.

Do you remember when God do come through after praying and waiting? How do you feel then? Relief? Joy? Satisfaction? Did you remember to praise God for His guidance? Maybe your special prayer request hasn’t even been answered yet and it seems that it’s nowhere in sight. Yes, it may seem that way but what does God’s Word tell us about that? Do you ever wonder and say, “Where is God when I need Him?”

God is in our midst to hear our prayers and grant forgiveness. God is in our hearts to seal the promises that He has made until the day of redemption. The Bible says that the Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He promised and that He has purchased us to be his own people.

God is in our midst to protect, guide and strengthen us. In the Old Testament there’s a verse that says: “For the Lord is the one who goes with you. He will not fail or forsake you.” Deut.31:6
He walks with us all the time and He answers our prayers all the time but…it is always in His time! The prophet Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain and for 3 ½ years it didn’t, then he prayed that it would and God gave the rain.

Sometimes our prayers need immediate attention. Queen Esther was faced with the potential death of her people; her entire race that lived in the region. So she urged her people to pray for 3 days just to muster up the courage to talk to her King to plead with him to stop the death of her people. Job was another person who suffered and needed God in a desperate situation, but he continued to trust and believe that God would come through despite all the trials that he went through.

In James chapter 5 we read about Job’s patience. “For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. Job is an example of a man who endured patiently. From his experience we see how the Lord’s plan finally ended in good, for He is full of tenderness and mercy.” (James 5:10,11)

Are you able then, to rest in the Lord? To rest on His promises? You can trust the God of glory to shelter and comfort you when the going is tough. Just watch God shine His grace upon you! Just watch God at work as you pass on to others the same hope and grace He sustained you with!

Copyright Jan Keats