There are times when we hope and pray to God for what may feel like forever. We may be waiting on God for a breakthrough for our marriage, a relationship, healing, financial blessing, or whatever it may be. It can even feel more discouraging when God seems to answer everyone else’s prayer. And we start to wonder “what about me, Lord?”. So what can we do when our breakthrough seems to be so far away?
When You Feel Like A Breakthrough Is Still So Far Away
Know That God’s Goodness Is His Character
The first thing we need to address is our heart when it comes to observing others. Even as Christians, our sinful human nature is not always happy for others. Especially when they are receiving the very things that we may have been praying for. We may not wish them ill in any way but a part of us can feel indignant at God! We can feel self-pity and then guilt for feeling that way. The cycle of negative emotions can chain us in a loop.
But we need to come out of our own pity party and look at the truth. God’s goodness remains the same, whether that is to others or to us. God answering the prayers of others shouldn’t make us lose hope. Our hope instead should be even more built up because we get to see more of His character at work. Being a good Father is who He is. He cares about each one of us that He knows down to the number of the very hair on our head.
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. - Luke 12:7 (NIV)
Trust That His Plans Are Better Than Our Own
The hardest part about waiting is seeing that our expectations are still not met. We can get impatient at the waiting because we want God to be on our timeline.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55: 8-9 (NIV)
We know that God’s plans are better than our own. But what does that look like? We tend to think only in terms of what God can do for us in this temporal world. But God sees all and knows all through the times of the past, present, and future. This should comfort us greatly because our God is not limited to only what we know or see. And because He is a good Father that loves us with plans that are better than our own, it should push us toward a renewed faith.
Faith would not be needed if we had everything go our way or if God was our genie in a bottle. We wouldn’t worship a God that we can manipulate into giving us what we want when we want it. Our God is so much greater than we can imagine Him to be. And even in the waiting, the pain, and testing, God still has everything under control. In the span of eternity, God’s main purpose is to have all of us.
We may not have answers for why we still have to wait. And we may not know until He gives them. Maybe we will not know it until we meet Him in person one day. But what we do know is that God loves us, He cares about what we care about, and that His plan for our life is one that we can completely trust because He is a good Father.
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father, I come to the foot of your throne. Sometimes I get so impatient and frustrated at the waiting. But I know You love me too much to leave me where I am. Thank You for this reminder that You deeply care about me and the things that I care about. I want to resubmit my faith in You as I continue to wait. I trust Your plans for my life, which are better than my own. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
Recommendation
Knowing God starts with knowing His Word. If you don’t already own a Bible, there are many churches that give one for free. You can also download a YouVersion Bible App. Or if you’d like a physical copy, it can easily be found on amazon.