Answer Me Quickly

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"Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails…" - Psalm 143:7 (NASB)

   Patience! That word alone generates all kinds of emotions within us. Many of us have heard, if not said it ourselves, "Don't pray for patience, for God will send trials on you that will teach you patience." While I am not so sure about the theological implications of that kind of prayer, it is apparent in each of our lives that patience is needed. If you read the entire Psalm 143, you will find that David is a wreck. We cannot be certain exactly what he was facing, but it involved his enemies, or the enemies of God, and it brought great pain into his life. When he uses phrases like, "crushed my life", "dwell in dark places", "my spirit overwhelmed within me", and "my heart is appalled", it is apparent that he is devastated on the inside. The sum total of his current situations brought him to the ground. It is during this time he cries out, "Answer me quickly." 
   God is God, so we do not get to dictate when or how He will answer our prayers. Sometimes it seems that His answers are coming too slow, and perhaps sometimes too late. I am reminded of two sisters, Mary and Martha, who sought Jesus to heal their brother. Jesus deliberately delayed coming until after the brother was dead. How the hearts of those sisters must have been crushed given the delayed arrival of Jesus. It was only after four days of death that Jesus arrived to raise Lazarus from the dead. Had they only known the greater miracle:  Jesus did not plan on healing Lazarus, but raising Him from the dead. Their "prayers" were answered of course, just not in the manner or timing that they had hoped. Their limited natural vision could not imagine the greater display of God's power that would happen. 
   God is never late, and seldom early, but He is always on time. Trusting the LORD's is not always easy, but it is possible. Galatians chapter five reminds us that patience is among the fruit of the spirit, and Paul tells the church in Philipi to let their patient spirit be known to all men (Phil. 4:5). Perhaps the best way to simplify this is to keep our eyes on Jesus rather than our circumstances. Again Paul tells us, "The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:8, NASB). Whatever trial you are facing, your Heavenly Father is going to see you through. Cling to Him, and keep your eyes on Him. The greatest miracles often arrive amidst the greatest need. 

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