No Time Like the Present

Last night, while talking with my Pastor, I mentioned an issue I'd been dealing with that I was beginning to believe had spiritual consequences. She offered to pray with me. When I left her home, I was bombarded with thoughts like, "Why did you say all of that? She's going to think you're crazy, lazy, and whiny. Why don't you just grow up and let it go already!" Ironically, that I sometimes have such thoughts was precisely what I'd just received prayer for. So I thought, "Great, here we go. Can't I just have a moment of peace?!" Then I realized that the moment was an opportunity to let God show me how to deal. He was answering my prayer to boot! So I embraced the moment, and as I began to pray that I might "take every thought captive" (2 Cor. 10:5), the anxiousness began to fade.

We often think (or at least hope) that God heals instantly. Be it physical healing, spiritual healing, deliverance, and all the rest, the moment we pray is the moment we want results. Sometimes God works things out that way. Often times, however, he doesn't. In the Bible, we see miracles happen on almost every page. But the Bible spans thousands of years. In Acts we see the wonders and works of the Apostles of the new Church, but we forget that Acts covers decades. So, why the delay? Well, there are probably several reasons, most of which I won't get into here. But I do want to focus on one that I have found to be true and one you've probably heard before: the real progress is in the process.

God is probably not as concerned with making us feel better as he is concerned with helping us to grow, know him better, know more about his love for us. God could have instantaneously delivered me from anxious thoughts. But wouldn't it be better if I learned to go straight to God when I have such thoughts? Wouldn't it be more useful to me, and wouldn't it help bring me closer to God, if I learned how to win the battles in my mind and heart by finding refuge in God and his Word? I believe so.

I thanked God for loving me enough to walk me through this, and for giving me the opportunity--without a moment to waste--to draw closer to him. And being close to him, learning to trust him, and knowing more of his love offer much more than just the chance to feel better.