There is something truly exciting about experiencing the beauty and blessing of an answered prayer, when the request you put forward gets a definite yes … And when the manifestation happens speedily, ah, the joy and excitement can be hard to contain!

However, what happens when the answer is a ‘no’, or a ‘wait’? That might not be as exciting, so the question is, how do we handle such?

In Luke 22, we read a prayer Jesus made to His Father, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done” Verse 42). Jesus was in a period of intense distress. Knowing the horror that was still yet to come would not have been easy at all. And so, He prayed this heart rendering prayer. Alas, we know that it was not His Father’s will for that particular cup to be taken away from Him. However, it is the next verse that I really want to emphasise: “Then an angel from Heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.”(verses 43-44).

Jesus may not have gotten His will in that particular instance, but what He did get is His Father sending angels to minister to Him. This did not mean that it became less difficult, verse 44 clearly reveals that was not the case. What it meant was that He subsequently had the supernatural strength to drink that cup, to bear that extremely difficult burden.

Another example of this is Psalm 41:3-4, which says “The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health. “O Lord,” I prayed, “have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you.” (NLT). It is interesting that David makes a point to emphasise God’s nursing during the illness, before health is eventually restored. His confident knowledge about this characteristic of God emboldens him, even as he acknowledges his sin, to ask God for mercy and healing.

Likewise, before the Israelites entered The Promised Land of Canaan, that glorious land that was flowing with milk and honey, with grapes so big, two men were needed to carry a cluster of grapes (Exodus 3:17, Deuteronomy 26:9, Numbers 13:22-24, 26-27), they passed through a desert during which God fed them with manna and quail (Exodus 16:13-15, 35). It was that manna that sustained them until it was time to enter The Promised Land. And what a faithful God we serve. Despite their unfaithfulness, complaining and all, He still continued to nurse and feed them.

For some reason, as I was reflecting on this, I thought of the advert jingle of a particular sausage roll snack that was popular when I was growing up, Gala. The advert jingle was fairly catchy, and one of the lines was “…when time for proper food never reach, make you take Gala hold di hunger…” There was the acknowledgment that the Gala itself might not exactly be proper food, but it will help you stave off your hunger until the arrival of proper food.

We are currently in the period of advent, which means ‘arrival’, traditionally a period of waiting for the arrival of a notable person. We observe advent as a way to remember the waiting period before Jesus’ arrival over two thousand years ago. And let’s face it, waiting can be wearying.

Some of us might be in periods of waiting. We might have been waiting for weeks, months, years, decades even, for answers to prayers. Sometimes we don’t even know how much longer we will still have to wait before our amber light becomes a green light. Sometimes we wonder if that amber light will ever become green. Or if we will even have the strength and patience to keep trusting and hoping, sitting in the traffic, waiting.

If you are in such a period of waiting, beloved, you are not alone. I’ve been waiting as well, for years, for the answers to some of my prayers. I have no idea how much longer I will have to wait. The truth is, it can be tough sometimes. It is not uncommon to feel forsaken or forgotten. Psalm 22:1, which Jesus famously quoted on the cross captures that feeling… “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” The Psalm goes on to say “O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them.To You they cried and were rescued; in You they trusted and were not put to shame.”(ESV)

During this waiting period, the ‘Gala’ that has helped me to ‘hold di hunger’, is God’s nursing and my acknowledgement of it. When I had to undergo treatment and could barely walk or function, He sent human angels to feed me and support me. Even when my ability to function improved, He continued to send angels to support me in many ways. Every single day, God continues to give me daily bread, daily strength, daily grace. I see how far He’s brought me, the improvements that have taken place along the way, and I continue to thank Him for what He is doing.

However, there are times when I forget; times when, honestly, I feel worn out, tired of waiting, impatient, times when I say, ‘how long Lord?’ But then, like the Psalmist, I remember that “He is holy” and deserving of my worship, even in the waiting; that there is a precedent that existed long before me and that will outlive me on planet earth, which is that God delivers those who trust in Him. The Psalmist reminds us that ‘Our fathers cried to God and were rescued. Because they trusted in God, they were not put to shame’. As Psalm 34:5 (NLT) states, “Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.”

And so I continue to wait, to trust, to hope, to remind myself again and again that in God’s perfect time, He will make everything beautiful. The Psalmist helps me understand that it is okay to groan, to lament, to cry to God, as long as I’m still talking to Him, still focused on Him, still looking to Him; that it is okay to ask questions, as long as I still continue to trust that He knows all the answers, and that I continue to demonstrate that trust with obedience; that it is okay to sit in silence with Him, knowing that He is there, that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6, Matthew 28:20), knowing that the comfort of His presence is more than sufficient; knowing that God’s Word is my source of hope and my comfort in affliction, and that His promise has given me life (Psalm 119:49-50, BSB); knowing that even when I don’t feel it, patience is having its perfect work in me, enabling me to become mature, developed, not deficient in any way (James 1:3-4); knowing that even if the immediate answer is no, because my Heavenly Father is good, I can be confident that there is a far better ‘yes’ ahead; knowing that even when the waiting feels overwhelming, His love is even more overwhelming; knowing that if I open my eyes and look around in my waiting, I will almost certainly see evidence of His nursing, His feeding, His strengthening, His engracing in my life. And so, I pray that I will never take this amazing, bountiful ‘gala’, this manna for granted, knowing that without it, I don’t see how I will even have the strength to journey on to my promised land.

As I conclude, I would like to share a prayer I came across in a devotional I read a while ago, which I’ve made a very slight change to. It is one I pray regularly, and it is my hope that as you continue to trust God in your waiting, you may be able to make this prayer as well: “Dear God, sometimes I want an immediate solution for my problems. It can be so hard to wait, but I know Your timing and Your ways are perfect. As I wait for You, please help me to learn from the current situation I’m in, focus on the blessings I currently have, and praise You for all the things You’ve done, the things You’re currently doing, and the things You’re going to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Image source here.