Sometimes God Says Not Yet

In summary of Hebrews 10:36-37 it says, "Don’t cut and run, quitters will lose out.  Patient endurance and perseverance is what you need, stay and survive trusting all the way so that you will continue to do God’s will.  Then you will receive all that he has promised.  For in a while the one who is to come will be here."

Bottom Line:
You must never give up, a patient endurance / perseverance is what you will need.  You need to stick with it and trust all the way so that you can continue to do God’s will.   If you do this you will receive all that he has promised.  It won’t be long before the one who is to come will be here.

What this means to me:
God has good things in store for me.  He wants me to receive all that he has promised.  But he’s also interested in training me.  This will include trials, tests and delayed answer to prayers along the way to build my perseverance and faith.  My natural tendency when things get tough or not the way I want is to bail, however when I stick it out and learn to practice patience I do experience the good stuff God has in mind for me.  Scripture reminds me that the time is coming quickly in which Jesus will return for me.  So part of my maturity in faith includes learning the difference between ‘no’ and ‘not yet.”  I need to understand that a delay to prayer does not always mean a denial from God, it could just mean ‘not yet’.   The delay may very well be a test of my patience.  I can be patient from time to time, however I need to learn to be patient over and over again so that I can learn to know my level of faithfulness and commitment over time.  I just need to remind myself that God teaches me patience during all delays.  If I find myself getting discouraged I need to ask him to help me turn it to patience instead.  One area I find myself in need of more patience is seeing the bigger picture of what God wants me to be involved with in the future (should I stay in the area I live in today or should I be open to perhaps see things I may be blocking just because it’s comfortable.)  So I’ll ask God for continued patience in this area and trust in his sovereignty and timing.  He will reveal to me in his timing and I'll trust that when that time comes it will be clear.  Until then I will do what he has already outlined for me in scriptures.