A really amazing man of God once said, "The gap between asking & receiving is the place where faith lives." Have you thought about that lately? We ask things of God all the time. We want, we need, we plead, we beg, we bargain... But what do we do when we're in the gap between the asking and the answer?
Most of the time, I find myself whining, complaining, and whimpering. I don't like waiting or spending my precious time in the waiting room, and I don't like the uncertainty of not knowing how He will answer. I certainly don't want Him to answer in a way that I don't expect or with an answer that I don't want. I want what I want when I want it (now) and the way that I want it (my way) !
It reminds me of a part I love in "The Shack" where the main character is seated at the judge's podium and God is brought in front of him. He stammers that he has no right or ability to judge God, and the Holy Spirit says, "Well, while that is very true, you must believe that you can because you do it constantly." Ouch! How incredible that my actions and thoughts portray my confidence that I am able to judge the God of the universe! "Well, (I tell myself) I'm not really judging Him, I'm just telling Him what I want!"
Really? Let's just look at this through a different perspective. When we demand our own way, we are saying that we know better than He does what we need. When we whine and complain, we're expressing our dissatisfaction in the way He is meeting our needs or wants. When we doubt, we're rejecting His promises to always care for us and do what is best according to His plan for us. When we shake our fists at heaven in our anger and frustration, we're telling our Father that He is not satisfying us in the way or timing that we want! We are judging God, no doubt about it.
So how should we be reacting instead? If faith lives between the asking and the answer, then the challenge is to strengthen our faith. The ways we do that are so simple and yet so powerful:
* We pray about our needs, thanking God for His answers in advance.
* We read His promises in the Word and find ones that apply to our situation so we can claim them and reassure ourselves of God's ultimate love for us and His desire for our good.
* We hang on to those promises so that when the enemy rushes in to discourage us or cast doubt upon God's faithfulness we can defeat him with Biblical truth.
* We surround ourselves with those who will stand with us, especially those who have fought the same battle and have been victorious. They are faith-builders for us and invaluable encouragers!
* We listen to Christian music, which will help us focus on God and remove worldly influences from our thinking.
* We only act as He leads us, not in manipulation or with secular methods, but according to the Word and the Spirit's prompting!
* And having done those thing, We Rest - in His love, His promises, His timing, & His ways.
If we do these things, we will be building our faith and as the answers come we will be able to see God's hand at work. We will also find that the next time we are in the gap it will be a little easier! Not only will our waiting room be more comfortable, we may just be the one God uses to help someone else in theirs!
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