Answered Prayers

I have not been blessed with much patience. I go to a different salon if I can’t get an appointment for a haircut that day. I will drive the long way if it means I don’t have to wait at a red light. I sometimes pour my coffee before the pot is done brewing. I get angry with God when he doesn’t answer my prayers within the next, oh, 24 hours.

Woops. How did that one get in there? 

Yep. I have to admit it. When I pray, I often expect God to answer on my time. And when He doesn’t (because apparently that’s just how He rolls) I get angry with Him, I lose faith in His goodness, and I question His existence. Yikes!

Thankfully those feelings have proven to be rather temporary. God always somehow ends up coming through! Shocking, I know. But sometimes, when you’re waiting for an answer, you forget just who it is you’re waiting on. Hindsight…

For some time, I have been petitioning fervently for direction in a few arenas of life. In a previous post, The Silent Treatment, I told about how I found a reminder that God will come through…but I must admit I was still a little peeved with Him for not answering my requests and seemingly ignoring me altogether.

Good news! The Big Man and I are on speaking terms again! I praise and pray and cry and scream at Him. And now He answers! He only says one word (drum roll, please):

“Wait.”

Straight up, clear as day, can’t mistake it: “Wait.”  Ugh. Not exactly the answer I was looking for.

But I know I must obey and I know it will work out because God has come through for me in the past. As a reminder of that, I made an “answered prayers” board a few weeks ago (trying to be one of those Pinterst-y people). I painted one of my favorite scriptures on a cork board and hung it in the hall where I see it often. I put up a new tag with a quick blurb about the situation each time I recognize a prayer God has answered – even and especially when it is not answered in a way I thought it would be.

It’s not blurry in real life. I just wanted to spare you all the awesomeness that is my painting abilities. God likes worship, even when it’s sloppy, but you might not 😉

Recognizing, praising, and remembering the times God has proven Himself gets me through the wait – the times when I’m questioning exactly that. Seeing this daily reminder enforces the truths that God hears me, God works in His own time,and God is always good and it gives me the hope that God has something even better in store than I could possibly imagine. I’ll call that a Pinterest win.

What helps you through the wait?