IN THE MEANTIME
- Apr 30, 2016
- 3 min read
Why does God seem to take a long time to answer prayer? I believe that God wants His children to practice faith. Every Christian will experience a “meantime.” In the meantime, we should endeavor to wait patiently. In the meantime, we practice faith and we work. To illustrate this point, the story is told of a father and son. The son sent a text message to his father asking him to take him to the movies to see Ninja Turtles. The father never responded. The little boy sent
him another text and tagged it with a red flag. Still, the father did not respond to the text. The little boy grew impatient, frustrated and annoyed that his father did not respond to him quickly.
As he was sitting in his messy room, he began to tap his foot and mumble. The father soon returned home and walked into his son’s room. He told his son that he was ready to take him to see the movie until he saw the messy room and smelled the odor. The father said, “We can’t go to the movie with your room like this!” To the sons amazement, he said, “Well daddy, I wish you would have texted me back and told me to clean my room.” The father responded, “I shouldn’t have to tell you about cleaning your room because you already know my expectations. While you were waiting, you could have been working. Your request is not denied, but it is delayed. Do your part because I always do mine.” In many cases, God’s response is not of denial, but the Christian may have to wait because we are not ready to receive what He has for
us. We may not be able to handle the blessing with spiritual maturity and responsibility.
Simply, it may not be our time or season. I thank God for the meantime.
The meantime:
1. Helps the Christian to grow closer to God.
2. Encourages the Christian to have total dependency on God
3. Challenges the Christian to practice patience through prayer
The meantime helps the Christian to grow closer to God. Paul admonishes the Church of Ephesus (Ephesians 6:18) to never stop praying to God. Frequently in the Old Testament, scrimmages between Israel and the enemies of God, Israel won because of prayer. Contrarily, when prayer was not priority they lost. Paul was incarcerated when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. Scholars suggests that he did not pray for his release or temporal satisfaction, but he prayed that God might reveal the mystery of the Gospel. Consequently as one grows closer to God, one’s perspective changes about their circumstance. The question alters from, “Why am I here to what do you want me to learn from this!” The meantime fosters an environment for spiritual growth, renewal and restoration. As the Christian matures, they embrace the wisdom of King Solomon when he wrote, “Trust in the Lord and lean not unto thy own understanding. In
all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:3-5).”
Growth also comes from experiencing the God moment. A God moment is when the Christian is able to see the workmanship of the Lord in their life. I call this life unexplainable blessings that happen to us beyond our control. The good news is that Christians will experience many God moments in their lives. This too happens in the meantime.
The meantime encourages the Christian to have total dependency on God. Jesus said to His disciples not to worry about what to eat, drink, wear or live (Matthew 6:25-34) because the Lord has it under control. He told them to look at God’s agricultural and habitat handiwork. He asserted that if God takes care of that which is less significant than human beings that are made in His image (Genesis 1:26), surely God will take care of His most prized creation. The hymn writer said that God will take care of you. I believe that the meantime helps the Christian refocus our vision so that we can see clearly where our help comes from. The meantime challenges
the Christian to practice patience through prayer. Patience is an essential characteristic of Christ that we must learn.
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