When Paul was prevented from doing the thing he wanted earnestly to do - to visit believers in Rome - how did he respond? He applied himself diligently to the task before him - ministering to the church in Corinth - while he continued praying for and looking for opportunities to go to Rome.
I am so thankful God did not answer Paul's prayers with an immediate "Yes." Otherwise, we wouldn't have this amazing letter to the Romans!
It occurred to me this week that this great book gives us so many powerhouse verses of encouragement. It was in this season of deferred longing that Paul wrote:
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
- AND -
"And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
- AND -
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
These verses were penned while Paul's desires were being denied by God.
Oh, for such faith, a faith that rests in and readily testifies to the unwavering faithfulness and goodness of God, even in the face of disappointment and unanswered prayers!
Ephesians 2 tells us that this kind of confident, rock-solid, unflinching, joyful faith is the gift of God. We can not conjure it up within ourselves. So, like the father of the child possessed by an unclean spirit, I cry: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
This has been a season of "not yet" answers to prayer at my house. It would be easy to grow discouraged, frustrated, melancholy. But God, in his great mercy, has surrounded me with a community of believers who are committed to praying alongside me. When my own faith flags, these sisters and brothers remind me - again and again - of the goodness and faithfulness of God.
One fruit of this "not yet" season: we have learned that when we share our disappointments and sorrows, they diminish. Even more astounding, we have seen our grief transformed into worship and praise. One dear sister wrote, "God is causing us to rejoice - not in a certain outcome - but in God himself."
A Swedish proverb states: "Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow."
It is one thing to begin with joy, share that joy, and then see it multiplied into greater joy; or to begin with grief, and see that grief, when shared, made smaller.
But God is so much bigger than that. Our sovereign, all-powerful Creator transforms shared sorrows into joyful praise.
* * *
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:13b
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