“Delay is not denial.”
Once again, my favorite devotional says it so well. Ponder this as you think about the things that God seems to be forgetting or delaying for you.
Photo Credit: Sarah Oskay
This morning, I read Psalm 84. In the end it says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trust in you!”
For those of us who believe God is involved in our lives and who, like Jesus, desire to commune with our heavenly Father (which, as we know, is the best way to be involved with Him), we also must wrestle with the reality that what we desire may never come.
Do we give up hope? Do we stop asking? Does God stop being God?
These are the things I wonder about. But I also want to be in awe of passages in Scripture like the one above—I want to believe that He does not withhold good from His children and wants to give us the desires of our hearts.
And yet, Scripture also tells us that in this life we will have trouble. (John 16)
So, my prayer for all of us is that we would be in awe of God because He is God. May we not grow embittered toward things we don’t understand and may we never stop making our requests known—even when it feels like this broken world is squelching every ounce of our belief.
Pray for the mysterious awe to return and the ability to be bold.
Believe and trust, my dear friends.
“…take heart, for I have overcome the world.” -Jesus
May it be,
Joy
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Oh yea! I’m so glad other people know about that little gem. My copy is so old school and I just love imagining the two “listeners” writing out the devotionals. Here’s an old post I wrote: https://loveandrespectnow.com/2010/03/stuff-i-like-listening-ladies/
So true, but oh, how hard it is.
Yup.
I bought this devotional after one of your postings a while back. I figured you hadn’t steered me wrong with any of your other recommendations, and this one is no exception. Love it. Wish I was more consistent with it, like everything else in my life 😉
I was just thinking about prayer the other day. Things I’ve been praying for for years and never answered and things I prayed for last week that have happened and just how tough it is to deal with both of them.
And I think this is pretty fantastic: ” May we not grow embittered toward things we don’t understand and may we never stop making our requests known—even when it feels like this broken world is squelching every ounce of our belief.”
So glad you got the book! My mother is the one that passed it on to me and I have since given it to so many men and women. One guy started reading it to the group of guys he lived with every morning! I love that visual.
Joy – thanks for delving in and coming out wiser 😉 You were addressing our attitudes in the waiting, too. How do we react to the way God answers our prayers? “Yes”, “No” and “Wait” are all answers that He gives in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty and often we cop a ‘tude if it isn’t the “Yes” that were were expecting. My personal experiences also say that we need to acknowledge the blessings that we receive during the waiting or even when the answer is “No”. Blessing the Lord at all times can be extremely hard and extremely rewarding.
As you share the wisdom that you’ve found, the rest of us grow wiser too 😉
Amen, lady. Amen. 🙂
I really can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am for this. It is so needed right now. Thank you, Joy!
Uh, I disagree – delay isn’t always denial, but it can certainly be. Consider, for example, a woman who wants to get married and have children. If her marriage delays into her forties, she will hardly get any children, and this is hardly some hypothetical issue. Just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it’s true…
Rebecca thinks...
Ah. SO needed to hear this today, as this is exactly what I have been questioning myself. God Calling is also my favorite devotional, particularly the entry you began this with. Thank you!
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