rebelling against low expectations

Be Faithful in the Waiting

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Why does God take so long to answer our prayers?

Recently, I wrote an article about trusting God even when life is filled with uncertainty – how we should respond when we don’t know what’s going to happen. In it, I mentioned how later that day I would find out if I would be going on my church’s annual NYC youth mission trip – a trip I had been wanting to go on for almost a full year. Well, guess what I found out?

I’m going. I’ve been accepted – guaranteed a spot. So I guess, you could say I’m excited! Not only that, but I also found out that my best friend will be going too. For weeks, we’d been waiting expectantly for the outcome of the team leader’s decision. We both really wanted to go, but we weren’t sure what was going to happen. Now I do know – we will be going, both of us.

But there’s a catch… I just can’t tell her yet.

Because the team roster isn’t finalized, my leader has asked me to keep it under my hat just a little bit longer, until he confirms the roster. So, while she has a 99% of going on this trip, she doesn’t know yet. She’s still waiting, still trusting God.

You see, when I was writing my previous article, I wrote from the perspective of a person not knowing what’s going to happen, but trusting that God’s going to take care of it. Now, I’m writing from the other perspective. This time, I know what’s going to happen, but I can’t reveal it to her yet. More still has to be done behind the scenes before she can get the news.

Now, by the time this article is published, she will know this news. But between now and then, she won’t know what’s going to happen, and is still faced with this uncertainty. And in this time, she has a choice to make: stress and worry… or trust that it’s going to work out for God’s glory.

You see, all too often we worry that God isn’t hearing our prayers. We feel like He doesn’t know what’s really going on – or just doesn’t care. We feel like He’s just left us suspended in limbo, abandoned and left on our own. Despite all we try, nothing we do, nothing we pray, seems to get us out of the situation. Why?

Because just like my team leader, God’s still working behind the scenes.

Remember Joseph from the Bible, who was thrown into a pit by his brothers to die? Not only that, but from there, he’s taken up out of the pit, only to be sold into slavery to a traveling group going to Egypt. And then, after that, it gets even better! He’s brought to a foreign land, away from his family, away from everything he knows, and is forced to be the slave of a non-Christian.

Ever thought about that?

Joseph’s boss was a non-Christian. He was “secular” – not a believer. And in this time here, Joseph had a choice to make: serve God or don’t. Do his work for the glory of God, or don’t. Even with all this terrible stuff going on, Joseph chose to continue obeying and trusting God. You know what he got for it?

He was wrongly accused of rape, and got a life-sentence in jail.

So, imagine being where Joseph’s at. At age 17, betrayed by your brothers, taken from your home, falsely accused, and then thrown into prison for a crime you didn’t commit. You haven’t had a bad day until you’ve been in Joseph’s shoes!

And during this time, I can just imagine Joseph crying out to God: “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!!??” After all, he’s in prison for something he didn’t do! Why wasn’t God answering His prayers?

Because God was still working behind the scenes.

You see, God was going to use Joseph to do big things – there were just some things that had to be taken care of first. Eventually, God did deliver Joseph out of prison, and even orchestrated it so he would be put in charge of the whole kingdom, right under Egypt’s king. And in doing so, God put Joseph in the perfect position to save his family from the unexpected famine that occurred all over the eastern world.

God had just finished working behind the scenes.

And soon, He’ll be done working behind the scenes for my friend’s situation too. In the meantime, she’s waiting and being faithful where God already has her. She’s using her time of waiting for His glory.

How about you? Is there something in your life you’ve been worrying about that doesn’t seem to be going your way, or isn’t happening as quickly as you’d like it to?

I challenge you today to take that not as a circumstance to overcome, but as an opportunity to trust God and serve Him faithfully in what you already know He wants you to do.

I challenge you, today, to make the most of the time you’ve been given while God’s still working behind the scenes.


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Photo courtesy of Laura Smith via Flickr Creative Commons.


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About the author

Trent Blake

is a 24-year-old evangelical Christian, author, and apologist. His passion is to glorify God through a life lived in light of the gospel. Trent is the editor-in-chief of BaselineChristianity.com. and the author of Consider Christianity: Using Evidence to Examine the Religion of Jesus - a concise evangelistic tool perfect for giving away to skeptical friends and coworkers. Additionally, Trent has authored over a half dozen free e-booklets on theology and apologetics.

14 comments

  • Hi Trent! Thanks so much for this article! It was encouraging for me to read. I have been, for some time now, waiting on God for an answer to a prayer and it has been a struggle lately to trust God completely in this circumstance. Thank you for the reminder that God is still working and to be faithful to him during this season no matter how long it goes on.

  • I needed this reminder so much today. I’ve been struggling to trust God in my life, specifically with some really exhausting physical limitations. But He’s still good. He’s always good. I just need to trust Him in the meantime.

    Thank you for the article, Trent 🙂

  • I’ve been struggling with trusting God as well – especially since what I’m praying for is, I believe, His will. Thank you for this article!

  • This article is really awesome, Trent. Your example of Joseph was great… from the Bible, yet so applicable and understandable. 🙂

  • Yeah! I can really relate to Joseph alot of times in life. Elijah too!

    Sometimes it seems like life is just crazy back and forth up and down and that God isn’t doing anything to intervene. And Satan uses that as an opportunity to mess with us. Even this last week has been full of ups and downs. In the end though, God’s got this – and even when we don’t know the “what” and the “why”, He’s still got this in the bag.

  • Yeah! That’s frustrating alot of times. When we pray for a situation to turn out the way God wants and it starts by falling apart! It’s like, “What gives, God?” Then later, we often figure out why He did what He did.

  • The long-lasting circumstances of yet-to-be-fulfilled prayer are really tough to go through, but just like in Joseph’s case, there’s a greater purpose. And we can take comfort in that. 🙂

  • I just got home from NYC yesterday! I hope you get to experience and learn a lot while you are there and serving 🙂 Great article!

  • Thanks for this wonderful article, Trent! This is always a great reminder and can be applied to all areas of life. No matter what season of life we’re in, we’ll always have times of waiting. So thanks again for reminding us what to focus our eyes and attention on during those times, and to always trust that God is at work even when we don’t immediately see Him!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8b8613dc5a2e3c510aa86580c6c48f8aa85f01fc677e0b4a66c9b50b3d0df15f.jpg

  • That’s awesome! My favorite part of Times Square is Junior’s (the diner). Not only is their cheesecake nationally-famous, but their food is absolutely amazing!

By Trent Blake
rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →