“[Elisha] said, "This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this s what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink." 2 Kings 3:16-17
There are probably a few times in your life when prayers just aren’t being answered in what we would consider to be a ‘timely’ manner; it has happened to me. Seemingly unanswered prayers can bring a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. The people that are being described in 2 Kings had no water. No clouds in sight and not a drop of water could be found in the wells; hopelessness. Where do you turn when your faucet is dry, when your marriage is breaking up, when you kids are fighting, when medical bills are mounting, when you are turned down for another job or when your doctor tells you that you only have a short time to live?
The young boy in this photo attends the Bois Marchand School in Gonaives and there is no well at their school. Before my visit there ended, he followed me to the door and asked if I could do something to get a well at their school. He had been praying…but the cooks were still having to haul water. We need to be patient and remain faithful. The people in 2 Kings were so certain that God would bring rain to their land that they began to dig ditches…and continued to pray. Children attending the Lutheran School in Thomassique brought kindling to school, knowing that a feeding program would come someday…and they prayed and eventually it did come.
Our Triune God has a way of answering prayers, quite often in ways that we don’t understand at the moment but come to enjoy the blessing later on in life. Our Heavenly Father’s timetable is not one that we are familiar with or can understand. He provides in His time and in His way and we give thanks for taking care of us. Have you started to dig any ditches recently? Have you begun to store up firewood? He is faithful.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay