Waiting On The Dawn

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you…And therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.…blessed are all those who wait for Him…Isaiah 30:18"

I read the following excerpt from Spurgeon today. God is so kind to remind me of His promises. He waits to be gracious to us! God's sovereign hand and workings can be traced in every detail of our lives. It seems as though God has been constantly pointing my focus to not doubting His goodness and to never cease in my prayers. I was also reminded that waiting is not always easy. Jacob didn't get his desired blessing from the angel until the dawn of day...he had to wrestle all night for it. Paul, asked God several times to remove the "thorn in his flesh", but God kept him waiting so that He learned that He was enough and would sustain him. Who can pass up an offer from God to make requests of Him, trust Him and wait for Him to be gracious to us? Our prayers are not sitting in a trash can in heaven, but they have been carefully and lovingly filed. No matter how long the night seems, the dawn will always come.

“God often delays in answering prayer…Our Father has personal reasons for keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show His power and His sovereignty, so that we may learn that God has a right to give or to withhold. More often the delay is for our benefit…You are perhaps kept waiting in order that your desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if He keeps you waiting, you will see your need more clearly, and will seek more diligently, and that you will treasure the mercy all the more on account of the wait.
Your prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while they will be fulfilled to your delight and satisfaction. Do not allow despair to make you doubt, but continue to present your requests to God.” - charles haddon spurgeon