Delayed Gratification

I think one of the hardest things to ever learn in life is the practise of delayed gratification. Even those words make my nose shrivel... but its what God has been teaching me... for a long time. Sometimes I will pray and God will immediately and so obviously answer my prayer. It builds my faith and I thank God so much because I can see that He moved so fast and powerfully.
Sometimes God seems to have "forgotten" my prayers. I get frustrated, but by His grace, I am taught to keep praying and believing.

Delayed gratification is a foreign concept in today's society: have fun now,  party now, please yourself now, if its not now then make your own way. We are the society that wants desert before dinner (and I am not excluded from this). Four years ago I asked God for patience and after I asked Him, I regretted it because He definitely took charge of personally teaching me the ways of patience... by making me wait. Of course, I am glad He is though.

"The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character... the life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting"- Oswald Chambers. Abraham went out not knowing where he went (Hebrews 11:8). Right now, God is leading me in a new way than ever before, a harder growing of faith. I don't know the destination, I only can know the One who  holds my life in His hands, the One who is leading me. "The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person" (Jesus Christ) - O.C. Abraham's faith was a tried faith built on God. One of my favorite lines in the whole Bible is this: "Abraham believed God."

If God tells us to wait for the thing we prayed for, or even to wait because we are praying for the wrong thing, then we sometimes assume nothing is happening and He is doing other things. Our perspective is like a worm in the light of galaxies. God is always moving and working in a way beyond our figuring out. He is always thinking  good thoughts about us and for us. He is always moving behind the scenes and positioning events. We must trust in the hidden work of God. Often we must wait because God has the perfect timing and He wants to do more than we asked. For those who love God and wait for Him, He has the best in store. My teacher said to not let the good things keep you from the best things.

I have an example of this concept that continues to encourage me: Over a year ago, I randomly was looking online for church trips to Israel. I NEVER EVER thought I would ever go to Israel.  I was thinking how someday I could take one of those 2 week tours when I was old. But, God always surprises me with more than I could NEVER even think of. I couldn't even have planned it. God ended up taking me to Israel for 3 months for half the cost of a two week trip. I have adventures and memories that I still can't believe even happened. I even had the best group of people ever to have shared it with. And I encountered God in ways I can't even describe.
Sometimes we hear that God's ways are better. But this is just one proof in my own life that they are. Even horrible circumstance left in God's hands with be turned around and made beautiful. Only God can do that.

In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith"-Galatians 3:6. We are not righteous because of what we do, but because of Who we believe on: Jesus.

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us 'go'"- Oswald Chambers