My Little Revelatory Thought

This morning at church, I listened to the pastor preach about faith. Oh, faith! Oh, jump up and down and get worked up and excited faith! Move mountains, swing from the chandelier, woo-hoo!

I’ll admit that perhaps my initial response was a slightly cynical, “Okay, tell me something I haven’t already heard.” I’m just being honest.

He started talking about holding on to the promises that God has made to us and to the promises in His Word. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him (I John 5:14-15).

Of course, there’s a little catch, if you want to call it that. Overall, God doesn’t really seem to be a God of instant gratification. Even though He’s got some rock-solid promises, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the promise will be fulfilled like, tomorrow. That’s where the whole “holding on” thing comes in.

But here’s the revelatory thing my pastor said: In the time between making the petition known or the prophecy going forth (oh, so Pentecostal) and the actual fulfillment of it, you’re going to be expending energy. Wondering when it will come to pass, turning it over and over in your mind. So, since you’re going to be expending energy anyway, why not expend the energy positively instead of negatively? Instead of brooding, doubting, and looking at it pessimistically, why not hope for it, have faith that God is a man of his word, so to speak, and believe with everything in you that it will happen?

Okay, let’s say your flight to Paris or some other international dream destination is indeterminately delayed. You don’t know how long, but you know you’re going to have to wait. You could do one of two things: One, you could spend the indeterminate wait complaining, fearing that the flight is actually canceled, and feeling sorry for yourself thinking how it’s so unfair that you have to waste time at the airport when you could already be in France eating crepes as you walk down the Champs-Elysées. Or two, you could sigh and think, “Oh, well, flights are delayed all the time,” and you could spend some more time planning out your Paris trip, get a caramel Frappucino from Starbucks, buy that book you were always meaning to read, and find a nice spot in front of the terminal window to watch the sunset.

It’s up to you.