| God Is Working While You’re Waiting |
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| By Rick Warren — Aug 7, 2015 |
“I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised.” (Psalm 130:5 TLB)
God wants you to wait patiently for him to answer your prayer, but he also wants you to wait expectantly. Have faith. Trust God to hear and to answer. When you wait expectantly, you show God that you believe his promises. You believe he’s going to keep his word.
Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman, was once asked, “Have you ever gotten lost in the wilderness?” He said, “No, I’ve never been lost. I’ve been bewildered for weeks at a time, but I’ve never been lost.”
Some of you may feel bewildered right now. You’re bewildered about your marriage: “I’m praying for it to get better, but it’s not getting any better.” You’re bewildered about your career: “Do I go up, down, change jobs?” You’re bewildered about relationships. You may feel powerless and hopeless and like you can’t do anything to change your situation on your own. You’re bewildered.
Don’t be discouraged! Don’t give up! Look up. Turn to prayer. I have had many, many requests in my life that I’ve prayed to God that have never been answered. I can think of one prayer that I have prayed almost every day for 24 years, and it hasn’t been answered. I don’t know why God hasn’t chosen to answer that prayer, and I don’t understand it. But I have decided this: Whether or not God ever answers that prayer, I am going to die believing his promises. Because God is a good God, and he knows what’s best, even when I don’t understand it.
When God doesn’t answer your prayers, you need to remember a couple very important truths. First, God is in control, and you’re not. He knows better what you need than you do. There is no mountain too tall that he can’t move it. There is no problem so big that he can’t solve it. There is no sorrow so deep he cannot soothe it. God is in control, and he has a plan.
The second thing you need to remember is that, whether or not you ever receive your answer, God will honor your patience — if not in this world then in eternity.
“I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised” (Psalm 130:5 TLB).
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick>>
Talk It Over
- What promises of God can you claim while you wait for him to answer your prayer?
- How has God shown his faithfulness to you in the past?
- What do you expect God to do in your life? How do your expectations reflect his greatness?
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| Today’s Scripture |
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...”
(2 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV) |
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| Plan for a Comeback |
God promises to always lead us into victory! That means no matter what you are facing, no matter what’s going on in the world around you, no matter what anybody says, you should always be planning for a comeback! In the middle of that adversity or tough time, start making your list of who you’re going to invite to your victory celebration. You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to celebrate what God is going to do in your life.
Why don’t you step out and put some action behind your faith? That means if you’re in the hospital, start planning what you’re going to do when you get out. If you lost some money when the stock market went down, start planning your coming-out-of-debt party. When things don’t look good in the natural, remember, we serve a supernatural God. With God leading you into victory, you can always plan for restoration. You can plan to be stronger and wiser—you can plan for a comeback!
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| A Prayer for Today |
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| “Father, today I give You thanks and praise for Your promise of victory. Give me Your vision for the future so that I can move confidently into the abundant life You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.” |
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