Faith

Streams in the Desert - July 10

I called him, but he did not answer. Song of Songs 5:6

Once the Lord has given us great faith, He has been known to test it with long delays. He has allowed His servants' voices to echo in their ears, as if their prayers were rebounding from a contemptuous sky. Believers have knocked at the heavenly gate, but it has remained immovable, as though its hinges had rusted.

True saints of God have endured lengthy times of patient waiting with no reply, not because their prayers were prayed without intensity, nor because God did not accept their pleas. They were required to wait because it pleased Him who is sovereign and who gives "according to His good purpose". Phillipians 2:13 And if it pleases Him to cause our patience to be exercised, should He not do as He desires with His own?

No prayer is ever lost, or any prayer ever breathed in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things we see as refusals or denials are simply delays.

Christ sometimes delays His help so He may test our faith and energize our prayers. Our boat may be tossed by the waves while He continues to sleep but He will awake before it sinks. He sleeps but He never oversleeps for He is never too late.

I read this tonight and it spoke so LOUDLY to me. We have prayed earnestly for H & S to come from Africa. We have waited so long for a court date that I lost my faith in the fact that they would ever come home. I gained it back only to find God never, ever left me. Then, I started questioning myself, "Am I praying hard enough? Am I not obeying Him somehow? Should I be doing something else so they can come home?" I know these are all silly questions, but honestly I was at a point of not knowing what else to do. Now we are being presented with this trial of me being sick in the hospital. No answers yet, by the way, so please keep praying for wisdom for the drs. and complete healing over my body. In the midst of it all, God never leaves us. He always stands right beside us, holding us in the palm of His hands. We just need to turn to Him instead of away from Him. We need to keep our faith in Him. Months ago (when we thought our adoption would be fast) a good friend looked at me and said, "Please be prepared for a fight. It may not be so easy. You may have to fight." The morning before he said that God gave me the verse - For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12 It all clicks now. Our "easy" adoption isn't happening, but we are willing to fight for our kids. We are not giving up on them. We know God will grant them to us ON HIS TIME, not ours. They will be placed into our arms and I'm not sure I will ever let them go. :) This waiting will make our story greater for our Heavenly Father. My prayer is people will be inspired and not want to give up, that their hearts will be burdened for the millions of orphans living all over the world when they see our diverse family. Our adoption will not be a secret, we will have dark skinned children and light skinned children. People will ask questions and I say BRING IT ON! I want to fight for the children around the world, here in America or Africa or Asia or Europe, wherever. These children need a mommy and a daddy, they need a home, they need to be loved, they need JESUS!!! So I am reminded once again that God will not leave me. He will not oversleep. We may have to wait, but that's okay. Just to clear up having faith doesn't make the waiting easy. It is still hard, but through this He is testing my faith (already did that) and energizing my prayers. He will wake up and deliver my children soon!!! I know it!