Good morning…
Day after day, we pour out to God the deepest desires of our heart. In response, I have heard it said, “God answers, ‘Yes.’ ‘No.’ or ‘Wait.'” I have always thought God gives us a “Yes,” and a pathway forward opens effortlessly before us. At other times God gives us a “No,” and a door is closed in our face. Then at times God responds, “Wait,” and we are forced to develop patient trust in God’s timing.
Recently a friend said to me, “I heard an interesting thing at an Al-Anon meeting this week. Instead of answering our prayers, “Yes.” “No.” or “Wait.” one woman said, ‘I think God answers, “Yes.” “Wait.” And “I have incredibly more planned for you.”‘”
Could it be that “No.” is not in God’s vocabulary?
I have never considered that what feels to us like a disappointing “No.” might actually be God’s, “I have incredibly more planned for you.” Who could ever wrap their minds around the riches of God, the depth of his wisdom, and the marvel of his perfect knowledge? Who could ever explain the wonder of his decisions or search out the mysterious way he carries out his plans? (Romans 11:33, TPT).
Unfortunately we usually don’t see God’s “incredibly more” right away. Often we don’t even see God’s “incredibly more” in our lifetime. Yet, with expectant faith, we look above our circumstances to keep the eyes of our heart focused on the invisible God who is orchestrating everything… for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— (2 Corinthians 5:7, AMP).
We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing (TLB).
Our life is lived by faith. We do not live by what we see in front of us (NLV).
The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes (VOICE).
In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now (1 Corinthians 13:12, TLB).
What difference does expectant faith make in our everyday lives? We glance at life’s jumbled circumstances and we gaze continually at our ever-present God. We lift our eyes from the pain, the chaos, the confusion of now, and we keep our firm focus locked on the unfolding mysteries of our Eternal God. And the One who sat on the throne announced to His creation: See, I am making all things new (Revelation 21:5a, VOICE).
Might you and I continue to encourage one another to train our expectant hearts to see beyond the-here-and-the-now to the “incredibly more” of God’s not quite yet?
…Sue…
