A young woman called me on the phone utterly discouraged. “My husband works hard, and so do I,” she explained. “But we never seem to get ahead financially. I look at my friends and see them remodeling their homes and sending their kids to the best schools. I used to go shopping with these friends, but now we don’t shop at the same stores anymore. God has all power–He could meet our need. So why doesn’t He?”
I didn’t have a quick answer. I just wanted to hold this young woman in my arms because I knew she was hurting. Then we began to talk about her options.
When it seems as if God is not meeting our needs, we have two choices: turn away from Him and become bitter, or continue to turn to Him even though we don’t understand.
It’s pretty obvious that turning from God is never a wise choice. That leaves us with Option #2: continuing to rely on Him. When you choose to wait on God, you give up depending on any logical reason you can figure out for what is happening. You simply say, “Dear God, I will continue to ask You to solve this problem, but if You don’t meet my need the way I think You should, I will trust You anyway. You must have a reason I can’t see.”
Wondering what happened to my friend who called on the phone? Well, at her point of despair, God supplied her need through a source she had long given up on. Oh, she’s hasn’t become “rich,” but her needs have been met and her faith has grown.
Dear one, don’t give up. Paul assured us, “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches” (Philippians 4:19, NLT). He didn’t say “when,” but he did say God would do it. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12) until the answer comes.
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