I have trusted God my entire life; at least I thought I did. I always trusted Him to take care of me; to make provision for me and my family; just as I expected my earthly Dad to provide me and our family with food, shelter, etc. But I have come to question if I really did trust Him like I thought. I had always assumed, when I didn’t receive an answer to my prayers, that God was probably busy; or what I had prayed was unimportant. And since He didn’t answer right away, I went ahead with what I wanted to do. By doing so, I ended up not particularly pleased with the results. Most of us do or have done the same thing. Many of us will get mad at God when that happens. I can’t say I got mad or angry with God, I just assumed that for whatever reason, it was all a part of His plan for my life. I never once considered that He was trying to teach me to wait on Him. Just as the verses above tell us. But then again, I can’t remember being taught to wait on God in the way the scripture teaches. I just forged ahead thinking I was doing what I should be doing. I mean, it couldn’t have been an important issue or God would have answered me right away…right? Charles once told me that the reason I didn’t worry is because I am the little girl who EXPECTS my Father to take care of me. And he’s right.

In the last few years I have learned a lot about trusting God; albeit through a lot of unnecessary problems But all the while He was trying to teach me to wait on Him. No I didn’t “mess up His plans”. I just had to learn to wait; through great trial. His plan always comes to fruition; sometimes it just takes a needed lesson to arrive at the “expected end”. We often have teased about God having three answers to prayer. I would often add a fourth one just for kicks: Yes; no; wait; and YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING!!!. The big thing is accepting His answer.

For example, when we moved here to Glasgow we had no kitchen table and no chairs. (When we left Pennsylvania in 2007, not knowing where we were headed, but having finally learned to trust His plan, we sold most everything except for the bare essentials. While in North Carolina we had a counter that served for our meals. In the short time we were in Tennessee we simply used one of our product tables; with much spillage of coffee and such. Having only been there for 30 days it would have served no purpose to buy furniture.) We looked at Wal-mart and didn’t want to pay the price for what they had. We didn’t know what was in store for us here; didn’t know how long we’d be here or what God’s intended plan was for us. We settled on a card table with four chairs that could be re-purposed later on should we get blessed with a “real” kitchen table and chairs. We, as most of you know, have only Charles’ social security as income so we didn’t want to spend money frivolously. We wanted to buy what could serve more than one purpose if at all possible. So we waited and used the card table. We had family in for the holidays in 2008; you may wonder how that worked out with just the card table; well, we fell back on the product tables, one for the food and one to eat around.

Most people would have said we were “lucky” with what I’m preparing to tell you, but we don’t believe in luck. We believe God BLESSES us. If you’ve read Charles’ article on “Luck: a four-letter word“, you will understand. Some may wonder how you can be blessed if you are “doing without”. Well, that in itself is a blessing because we learn to trust more and more through that. We eventually found a very nice kitchen table at a yard sale for $5. This is a solid, sturdy wooden table. The chairs that came with the card table are still serving us well in that capacity. As for the card table, when we are in ministry and have just a small space to utilize our product, the card table is just the right size. Waiting upon the Lord is truly a blessing in itself.

I am thinking of the song written by Vickie Arnold, “Even Then”. It talks about making a mess of our lives because we didn’t wait on or trust the Lord to do what He knew best. But He’s always right there with the right words and the “hug”, if you will, that lets you know it will be alright; “just trust Me the next time.”
I often wonder how many times I could have been “saved” from severe consequences had I simply waited on God’s answer. If you are waiting on a job; a “significant other”; etc.; if you wait on God, your FATHER, to give you what He wants you to have, you’ll be stronger in your faith and far more pleased with the outcome. Example #1 in this is when you need a job; you pray and pray for the one you feel God want’s you to have. You go on interview after interview and just as you are about to give up, you get a call…stating you can start right away at the pay you need, but you will have to work at times that will take you away from your church, or other ministry. What can you do? The bills are piling up and this seems to be the right answer. You agree to take the job and you start missing out on church services; visiting the hospital; volunteering at the food bank…pretty soon you start falling behind on your Bible study and pray time. In a short time you receive a call from one of the previous interviews with an offer that allows you to do all the things you did before and even at a larger salary than what you have now; or maybe even just a tiny bit smaller; but doing something you’ve always wanted to do and you have a real talent for. But, you already have a job now and it’s going great. So what if you miss out on the things of God, He provided the job didn’t He; or DID He?

Example #2 You have graduated from school and are ready for the next phase of your life. You want a mate and a family. You pray that God would send you who He wants you to have. Wal-lah…in comes the best thing you’ve ever seen, complete with a good job, financially stable and a reputation that is out of this world; may even be a “Christian”. You date; marry; have children; then it all falls apart. Drinking; abuse; unfaithfulness; next thing you know, you’re divorced and fighting over child support and furniture. A few years down the road, after you’ve yelled at God because He didn’t stop you from making such a big mistake, you meet someone at the laundry or the supermarket who strikes up a conversation. Not the best dressed; maybe not the most attractive; yet there is something “special” that draws you. You find many things in common, and you begin to wonder…soon you find yourselves together in front of a preacher. Now you are the happiest person alive. You may have bills you didn’t have before, drive an older vehicle; no designer clothes; but you are happy; inside where it counts. You have a more peaceful feeling than you’ve ever known. Your thoughts are, “Why didn’t I find him/her a long time ago.” You know in your heart of hearts God supplied this one; had you but waited you would not have gone through the suffering.

God knows what you are going to do. He knew before you were born what you would do. He also knew what He wants you to do, but He’s not going to force you into doing it. His gift of free-will is never withdrawn. I can tell you that for certain because Charles and I tried to “give it back to Him” in order to make sure we were constantly in His will. He wouldn’t do it. He wants obedience and love given freely else it isn’t genuine.

The realization is that God will answer your prayers; in HIS way; in HIS time. Our problem is in waiting for that. God doesn’t cause the bad things to happen to you or to me. He allows them in order that a greater good come. Trust Him in all things. His ways are perfect; His timing is perfect; and His will is perfect. Our pain and suffering comes in not trusting; not waiting; and not following His direction.
I’ve found that it does no good to pray, if we’re not going to wait on the answer or follow the instructions.



© Maxine Branthoover