an answer to prayer

Sometimes it's incredibly easy to get caught up in life's difficulties and heartbreaks and feel as if God has abandoned the scene. Tonight I was given a reminder that God's timing is not always our timing, and that God's ways are not always our ways. Sometimes God takes his time in answering prayer, but only because it is in that waiting-time we are stretched and grown. Adversity stretches us, forcing us to rely on the only One who is trustworthy.

I am reminded of James 1...

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

I remember one night in particular in the summer of 2009. Life had stretched me to the breaking point, and I desperately needed God's wisdom and direction in making a choice that could potentially have a very large impact on my emotional well-being. Not knowing what else to do, I walked up the hill to the church above my farm to pray. I remember laying face-down on the floor in front of the altar in that small country church, crying out to God and praying the words from James that I just quoted. I was at a breaking point - I didn't know where to turn or how to handle the adversity that was present in my life, and I desperately desired the wisdom of God more than I think I ever have before or since. I determined to remain in that church until I had received wisdom from God. As I lay there listening, an incredible peace washed over me - a peace that clearly told me that everything was going to be alright - God was walking beside me and would not leave me. No matter where the road led from that point on, God would be walking with me. That night in that small South Dakota country church has never left me, many times I have clung to that moment when I needed to remember that God is in control, and that God's wisdom is available for the asking.

It was a long, long, long wait, but tonight God answered my prayer. Praise be to His Name.