God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hi!

Today I’d like to talk about prayers that seem to be hitting a wall.  You know what I mean -you pray and pray day after day for a harsh situation in your life to change, and it doesn’t happen.  This is common, you are not alone!

These frustrating times are tests of our faith.  God will be quiet at times in order to see if you maintain your faith in Him and trust Him to deliver the promise you are waiting for. (Google a list of God’s promises)

“Blessed is the man who preservers under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12 NIV)

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)

I’m not going to candy coat this message.  Waiting for a prayer to be answered is hard and takes longer than we might ever think it should.  BUT, if you know that you are on the path of life- because you are following the teachings in the Bible, you can be assured that in the end it will be a  path that leads to good.

 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”(psalm 27:13-14)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”(Romans 8:28)

Pastor Rick Warren in his blog post 5/21/14 entitled “Your Faith Is Being Tested” said:

You don’t get faith by sitting in a Bible study group or just talking about it. Faith is like a muscle; it develops by being used. The more you use your faith, the more it gets stretched. And the more it gets stretched, the more God is able to bless your life. We call the circumstances that God creates to stretch our faith “trials.”

“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold” (1 Peter 1:7a NLT)

Sometimes, as you are waiting for your prayer to be answered, your life situation gets worse.  There is a purpose in this! God wants your complete attention and by increasing your struggles He knows that you- as a follower -will  cling to Him even more.  This will leave no time or energy to pursue frivolous things that would draw you away from Him making you lose confidence in Him.

“Let the labor be heavier on the men and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.” (Exodus 5:9)

This happened to the Israelites, their labor was increased because God instructed Moses to ask Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites celebrate a festival to the Lord.  Pharaoh was livid to say the least, and said no. Instead, the Israelites were given a hardship as a result of obeying God.  Never assume that terrible circumstances in your life are due to any fault of your own.  God will make it clear to you if you have done something wrong or if this hardship is a result of the sin in the world.

So I again encourage you to sit down with the Bible daily, learning about God’s promises to you and how God wants you to live your life.  If you follow His teachings you can be assured that the promise you are waiting for will come to pass.

The definition of sojourn: a temporary stay

Your trial is temporary when you are a follower of the Lord’s teachings.  As a fellow sojourner, stay in faith!  It’s worth it!

Enjoy your week,

Lisa