Trust in the Slow Work of God

 

Many are the afflictions

            of the righteous,

but the LORD delivers him

  out of them all.

            Psalm 34. 19

God does not promise 

   we will not have problems

   or troubles or struggles.

Indeed that hard stuff may

      flourish right

      in the center of His will

and bring about things

that otherwise wouldn't 

                be possible.

No matter the affliction,

      God promises

that He is with us

    right in the midst of the mess.

He brings the strength.

He brings us through.

Deliverance may come

  on unexpected paths,

sometimes not out of,

            but going through.

We can trust 

     His redeeming ways.

 In what appears unmoving,

   we can trust His slow work.

 God covers us powerfully,

              beyond our vision

              or sense of time.

For He is good,

and His steadfast love

         saturates even this.

O LORD,

May the difficulties we face

    draw us closer to You.

Form something new in us.

Help us to see these things

  with new eyes

          and a fresh heart,

not just to see how to handle it,

but to witness

        Your glory in it.

Keep us faithful

     in impossible places

as a witness to others.

Even today.

Even in this.