
The first stance of this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm, (2nd Sunday in year A), is taken from Psalm 40:1-2: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction…and set my feet upon a rock… He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” Apparently, David was facing a terrible situation—in a deep pit of destruction and a cesspool of miry clay. He prayed for deliverance and patiently waited for the Lord to respond. His patience paid off and the Lord did respond.
A few days back, one of our young adults asked me, “Monsignor, the Bible says that whatever you ask of God and believing that it is done, will be given to you. Do you believe that because it doesn’t seem to be true?” The real test of our faith truly comes when our patience gets a real workout; when prayer meets the silence of being kept on hold, and God’s answer seems to be “no answer” and we conclude “I guess it is not meant to be”. The question then becomes whether we have enough faith to trust and assume a holding pattern and wait for the fulfillment of the promise.
Life will present us with adversities and tribulations; seasons of struggle, conflict, and brokenness. In these moments, it is important to remember the words of Scripture, “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.” My friends, the Lord knows where you are, where you have been, and how much you have left in your reserve. He is capable of sending the wind to blow back the waters of adversity just to provide for what you need. God does not forgot as Scripture says, “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name” (Hebrew 6:10). God’s word tells us to patiently wait for the fulfillment of His promises (Cf. Habakkuk 2:3).
It is important to remember these words of scripture when we are in a holding pattern. I once asked an elderly lady to tell me her favorite verse in the Bible and she answered, “It is, ‘this too shall pass.’” Life is full of seasons of sunshine as well as seasons of rain and snow and yet for each stage, there is a purpose and an expiration date. There is nothing we can do to rush God’s plan. It is never “by human might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).
We know from the Bible that the devil does everything possible to delay the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lives (Cf. Daniel 10). It is comforting to know, though, that no demonic power can stop what God had ordained for your life. God’s answers and blessings may not always come the way we think it to come. It may be delayed, but it is never denied. When we are going through stuff, let us remember that God is always capable of taking care of business even of things we think to be impossible.
May the good Lord put a new song in our mouth; a song of praise to our God and at the time we need it most. Amen!
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