Faithful

So the LORD must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help. Isaiah 30: 18 NLT

Faith. We are all encouraged to have it. What is it? Dictionary.com says it’s complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Other definitions include believing despite proof.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Fame of Faith. Verse one gives us another definition of faith.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we can not see. Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Then the writer of Hebrews goes on to tell us about many heroes of the Old Testament. It tells us how they displayed their faith and God’s glory. The chapter ends with this verse:

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. Hebrews 11:39

So all of these people did awesome things for God, led others to Him and went on to inspire people for millennia but they did not receive all that God had promised. And neither have we. All that God has promised will be realized in Heaven.

Looking back to our original verse – The LORD is waiting for us to come to Him to show us His love and compassion. Yes, this means our salvation, but I also believe it applies to our day to day life. God waits every day for us to come to Him. To spend time with Him and get to know Him better. Everyday He waits to display His love and compassion.

The problem comes when we come to God with a prayer request and He does not answer right away. What if you don’t get the job? The cancer doesn’t go away? Your child continues to hurt? Where is our faith then? Do we continue to believe that God has good things planned for us here and in Heaven?

Well, then it’s harder. Faith is harder in the waiting, but it grows.

The waiting can result in two things – a greater faith and relationship with God or more space between us and God. But God never leaves us. The space grows as we back away. He doesn’t move. He stays the same. He is faithful. And we are blessed when we wait for His help.

Friend, whatever you’re waiting for, keep the faith. Remind yourself that God is still there, waiting to show you His love and compassion. Preach the gospel to yourself. Keep reading your Bible, doing your devotionals, and listening to worship music. He is there. He loves you.