So What's the Hold-up?

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1

We pray for salvation of a family member -- for months and years on end. We pray for brothers and sisters who need jobs -- while more of us join them in unemployment. We pray through hard times of sickness and grief -- and the time ticks by as we pray.

So, what's the hold-up? Is the problem with God, or with us? -- Or is there a problem?

Pray and wait. Wait and pray. If there is a problem, it certainly is not a new one. God promised Abram and Sarai a son, but waited 25 years -- while something doubtful sounding became impossible - before he made good on the pledge. (Was that the point?) Joshua and Caleb had to wait an additional 40 years to enter the land they prayed to possess, after Israel's failure of faith upon the spies' report - and that wasn't even their fault! Many a believer has thought about THAT during a long period of difficulty seemingly caused by an unbeliving spouse or an ungodly government. Peter had to deal with questions about God's apparent neglect when he reminded the Church that with God, time doesn't count. A day? A thousand years? What does it matter to God? Then there's the oldest example of them all, Job. His misery stretched from days into weeks without his knowing why - no answer from God.

Thousands of books have been written in the past two thousand years on this issue. The discoveries made by most of those authors are the same points discovered by Job when God finally DID answer:
1. God is God. Deal with it. Reject this fact and die, or accept this fact and live. There are no more facts available about God or prayer until this one is accepted.
2. God is wise. He knows what He is doing. We don't.
3. God is good. Peter tells us this is why He sometimes takes His time. A delay is His mercy. Trust (that's what faith is) is our evidence that we accept this point.
4. God is responsive. He actually does things because we ask. And that's the point Jesus was making in the parable of Luke 18. Amazing! -- that is, when you consider point #1!

So, what's the hold-up with your health -- or that wayward child? There's no "hold-up." Sometimes, there's give-up. Let's keep praying and not give up.