A Prayer to Trust God’s Timing during a Long Season of Waiting - Your Daily Prayer - February 12
A Prayer to Trust God’s Timing during a Long Season of Waiting
By Keri Eichberger
Bible Reading: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
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I’m waiting. Seems like I have been forever. Because it’s true. We all spend the majority of our lives constantly waiting for answers to prayers, for our efforts to pay off, for struggles to resolve. For relief, rest, and peace to sweep over our weary souls.
It was almost eight years ago when I remember really digging into the well-known bible story of Abraham and Sarah. I had finally said yes to God’s call to have another baby, and was now waiting eagerly for him to do his part and bring the blessed miracle to be. And as I dissected Sarah’s story, for the first time I resonated with her consuming angst in the strenuous wait as she held on for the baby she longed for. Though, in her case we’re talking years of waiting. Decades actually.
What are you waiting for? I know there’s something. The only things I don’t know is what you’re waiting on, and how hard and long it’s been. If I could guess, like most of the world, you wish you could weather the wait a bit better. You probably wish you could trust and depend on God a little deeper. Wholeheartedly believing that he will provide a way, redeem a situation, restore something or someone that seems broken, or just move you out of the rut of what seems stagnant or full of struggle. You want to trust he has it all, and then live like it. I’m sure you need encouragement and confidence in his control and timing. And I do too.
But as I reflect on that first deep dive with Sarah and Abraham, I remember the encouragement I received as I read how God’s gaze was always on them. How his sovereign plan always had them. And my goodness, did he ever have a really big and beautiful plan. And because it happened so far back in history we have the privilege of seeing so much of the ultimate picture and purpose. How God promised a child, God delivered that child, and how he used that baby boy to someday bring about the nation of Israel. Isaac also falls in the lineage of the blessed Messiah. What a story.
If only we could take a peek into eternity and see all the blessings that are to come from every prayer, promise, and planted seed scattered through our lives too. But on this side of heaven, we just won’t. What we do have is stories in the scriptures of purposeful waiting and beautiful redemption. And blessings bestowed upon us personally, treasures and tokens received, that ought to serve as reminders of God’s goodness and glory throughout our entire existence. They should. But, we tend to stay in a state of struggle to feel encouraged while we wait. Wrestling with truly trusting God, as our patience wears thin and our attitudes and actions reflect a lack of confidence in his trustworthiness. Because we just can’t see it. We wait longer than we think we can bear and just aren’t sure God will ever come through in this lifetime.
And this is when we need to reflect on what we are sure of. What we do know. That God has had a plan before the beginning of time. A plan that included you and me. A plan that includes every single detail of our lives. Specifically plotted out moments at very specific times. And all of it is for good. For your good. For God's good and glory. And for the good of his entire kingdom. We’ve seen it. He shared it. We can believe it. And we can rest today and trust it. The Lord, our good God, is trustworthy. And in his timing he absolutely will make all things we're waiting on so very beautiful.
Let’s pray:
Lord God, You are the author of all time. With a perfect plot and plan for every detail of my days. Oh, how I long to rest in holy trust of your almighty goodness, but I confess I become impatient for blessings of this life to unfold fast. I want to find peace and joy while I wait for answers. And I know I can find these treasures when I lean on you. When I remember your Word and the fulfilled promises you revealed while the whole world waited for your son, Jesus—the ultimate answer. Help me to hold tight to the truth of your perfect promptness and the beauty that will come in due time. In your time. Lord, thank you for never being a moment late and for your unfailing faithfulness. In your son’s glorious name, Amen.
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