Blessings

Prayers are heard and answered. MY prayers. YOUR prayers. I know that without any doubt. Yet, it can be so frustrating when the answers don't come in the time that I would like. I think if any of us knew exactly how long a trial would last, it would be so much easier to bear. That was one thing that made bedrest easier than other trials. I knew there would be an end date....and it wasn't that far away. Others suffer and it feels like it goes on and on and on with no end in sight. If they knew that this trial would last exactly 1 year 3 months and 15 days I think most of us could handle it. We would gather the strength and courage and carry on.

But how discouraging it can feel when we offer prayer after prayer after prayer and there is no immediate relief!  The trial is not lifted. We are still left scrambling for answers, for health, for comfort. In those moments I have come to know that my test is a test of patience and long-suffering. Trusting in a Father who knows better than I, who knows perfectly, what I need to grow develops faith. It requires submitting my will to His and being willing "to bear with patience my afflictions". Long-suffering can be just that. Suffering for a long time. And patience is not one of my strong points.

Even with all of that. Even if our trials aren't taken away in our time frame, it doesn't mean we have to be miserable. Having hope through trials keeps our heads above water while we feel like we're drowning. Hope is the opposite of despair. Hope means we haven't given up. Having hope is having confidence in the future. Things will get better. We still trust that all will turn out for the best in the end.

I've changed many of my prayers to include asking for strength and courage to carry on. Help in getting out of bed in the morning and help in keeping a clear mind. Sometimes trials don't go away immediately because we need them to grow. We need the lessons that we will learn from them. We need them to become who our Father intends for us to become. But even as we're learning and growing in trials, there is always help available.

Brian and the kids gave me a CD by Mercy River for Mother's Day. One song in particular has become my recent favorite. It reminds me that our Father has promised us every good thing. He does hear us. And He sends the blessing that we need. Sometimes it just takes looking at our lives from a different perspective to see that He is there. He has not left us alone.

Blessings
by Mercy River

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?