A lot of popular stories come to mind when thinking about hardship and faith in God. None more so than those of the hardworking farmers trying to plant their crops to feed their families. Some of these stories are saddening, tales of people down on their luck, people sometimes even praying for a miracle to happen.
A farmer down on his luck, his crops dying because of a horrible drought that has hit. He has sustained his farm for years and is the only means of feeding his family. On the verge of losing it all he cries out "God, why me?" The terrible weather makes it so hot that the farmer can barely stand it.
Still months go by and no sign of rain and the poor farmer fears that he will loose his farm, his home, and his dignity. He walks outside and surveys his farm and he bows his head. "God I know that you can hear me and I apologize for my stubborn behavior. All I ask is that you provide rain, that I may have crops so that I may provide for my family. Amen." As he walked back in the house he noticed small droplets of water coming from the sky. Rain. The farmer, astonished, raises his hands in celebration.
At that moment God spoke to the farmer saying "I am your God, the Creator of heaven and earth. I have seen your hardships and I have heard your prayers. Know this, that I have a plan for you and I have always had a plan for you. To those who love me and do my will I will provide for them. My actions may not be at that moment, but as I said, I have a plan for your life. And even though I heard your prayers, it was not yet time for me to act. To those who love me, I will provide for. As I have given you this rain. You must never lose faith in me." And God left that place.
The farmer began rejoicing God and crying in his happiness. God had provided and his family would not grow hungry.
We are like the farmer in this story, we stumble through life and we have times when life is not easy, but we must remember that God has a plan for all of his people. We all have wants and needs in our mortal life but in God's view he provides in his own time what he believes we need. If we are patient and we wait on God's time, then we will be taken care of. Though we may not see God working at the speed in which we may want him to or we may not see the fruits that we have asked for right away, if we wait on God's time he will provide what we need.
People around the world fret over money, transportation, a roof over their own heads. I myself have been there and like many I blamed God for my issues in which I knew were not his fault. My truck was on it's last leg and my wife and I were denied left and right for attempts at leasing a new car. I was so angry that I asked God "Why me?", Then God took me to school. One day after getting a recommendation from my sister to go visit a local car dealer, we went and sat in the office and explained our situation. We informed the dealer that my truck wad dying, and after months of people telling us, "no", we finally got a new car. All that time I cursed God and proclaimed my good deeds openly and thought that I deserved something for my actions. What I learned was that God was there and was waiting for his time, not mine. The moment that I finally gave up my blaming God did he bless my family.
So if your facing some kind of difficulty, if you think that your prayers are not being heard, do not be mistaken. God is the beginning and the end and knows all things including your pain and suffering. He does not watch to pain you, he doesn't do it to mock you. He does because he is in his own time and I believe they he knows best what he wants for you. So do not fret about money, where you will sleep, or what you will eat because God will provide for you. You must be ready to receive his gifts.
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