January  2006

Light at the end of the tunnel

I waited patiently for the LORD, he turned to me and heard my cry ...
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust ... Psalm 40: 1, 4

Waiting on the Lord is one of the most depressing situations in a man's life. It is easy to say that we trust God, praise Him, magnify His name when He answers our prayers in a very short time. But when sometimes God asks us to wait for His time, it hurts us so badly. I've been there too many times and I know what I'm talking about.

It's a time in our life when we have to go thru a tunnel experience. It's an experience of darkness, loneliness, helplessness when we really don't know where this darkness is leading us to and we desperately wait to see the light at some point in this journey, hoping to get out of this tunnel into the light.

My friend, at some point or the other in our life God may lead us thru a tunnel experience. But the question is, What do we have to do when we're going thru a time such as this? Let's look at some of the To Do's of how to handle such a situation in our life.

1. Wait patiently
When God promised Abraham that He'd give him a son, Abraham had to wait for 25 years for God to really give him what He promised. God revealed to Joseph that he would become a ruler and that his whole family would bow before him ... but God had His appointed time to fulfill that promise. As a matter of fact, Joseph was thrown into a dark pit soon after God promised him that He would elevate him. But both these men put their trust in God and waited patiently for His time. Let's ask God for patience and the willingness to put all our trust in Him, because God's time is the right time. If we try to rush thru this process and find a way to get out of this situation by our human efforts, we will be disappointed. So, my friend, be patient and God will work it all according to His divine plan and purpose for your life. When we wait on Him, it is always worth the wait.

2. Pray
The second part of Psalm 40 verse 1 says "He turned to me and heard my cry". This simply means that God heard David's prayers. The bible says in the book of Jeremiah 33 verse 3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jesus has instructed us to "Ask" and He promised that He will give us what we need. Everyday, till God could fulfill His promise, we need to pray fervently because the bible says in the book of James that "The effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". Don't give up on your prayer, my friend, 'cos God's still at work in your life.

3. Trust in the Lord
Many a time we tend to comprehend God's abilities with our human brains. We look at the situation around us and fear that God wont be able to help us at such a time. But remember this my friend, the bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding". When we start to use our human brains to understand what God is up to in our lives, we will run into depression and heartache. We need to put our trust in the Lord with all our heart ... a complete trust in His abilities, because He is the God of the impossible !!!

My friend, I don't know what kind of a situation you are in, right now. Maybe last year God gave you a promise and you expected Him to fulfill it within the last year and He didn't. But cheer up, my friend, 'cos God is still working on that promise ... He hasn't forgotten you. But, in times like these, where God keeps us in the dark for a while and makes us wait for His time, let us remember that His timing is always perfect and He WILL show us the light at the end of the tunnel. When we patiently wait for God's timing, when the waiting is thru, when we get into the light, then we will be able to see the outcome of the Lord's work and can say with all our heart that "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes".

May the Lord help us to put our trust in Him as we wait on Him to fulfill His great and awesome plans for our life.

Have a blessed day!!!

Your friend,
Eshcol