Delayed Blessing Office

What a gorgeous weekend compared to last weekend!  The craft show organizers must just shake their head as to how the weather went so badly for them (and me!) a few days ago.  I'm sure there were even a few that were on the organizing committee that prayed for the weather and it still went so badly. 

I read in my devotional book last week about the "Delayed Blessings Office" located up in heaven.  Someone wrote in a book about a character that was being led around heaven and was brought to this place where he learned where "God stored the answers to certain prayers until it was wise to send them."  The devotional went on to describe that "delays of answers are not denials.  In fact, in the "Delayed Blessings Office" there are deep secrets of clove and wisdom that we have never imagined!  We tend to want to pick our blessings from the tree while they are still green, yet God wants us to wait until they are fully ripe."

That has helped me to understand even a washed out craft show is not a denial of my prayer as I had done it in the hopes of making extra income to put towards debt.  It seemed like God wasn't answering my prayer.  We actually lost money on the whole show which really confused me.  But it isn't a denial as much as it is a delay.  I now have a lot of inventory for another show which I'm hoping to sign up for and possibly others.  It motivated us to really work hard as a family.  It showed us we could do things we'd never done before.  So it wasn't a waste of money at all.  It really taught us a lot.

My own children are learning this lesson as well.  The older two were looking forward to the Worldview Camp that my daughter went to last year.  It was supposed to take place in a couple weeks time.  They were counting down the days.  Then, out of the blue, it was cancelled.  Not enough signed up.  It seems they were losing money every year and perhaps they just couldn't afford to lose money again.  Either way, my kids were devastated.  This was going to be the highlight of their summer!

But, the very day that it was cancelled, an email came through explaining another evangelism/worldview type of camp.  At this camp, or really a training week, all the world religions were going to be explained and then have you actually go to the mosques and temples of these religions.  Then the students will be trained on how to share their faith with those people of other faiths.  It actually sounded like a really good alternative.  It wasn't an overnight camp, but it was so close that they would be able to drive back and forth.  On the one hand, it seems like God answered their prayers immediately for another alternative, but on the other hand, it seems like God denied them what they really had hoped to do as my kids were looking forward to meeting up with the friends my daughter had made from last year.  Is it a denial of a prayer request or perhaps a delayed answer?  We are all anxiously waiting to see how this all goes.  I'm now in this new role of watching my kids go through trials that are teaching them about God and how He works in their life.  It is hard!  I guess all parents want to fix things for their kids and make life just work out and be easy.

The last line in the devotional is great - "Do not grieve Him by doubting His love.  Instead, lift up your eyes and begin praising Him right now for the deliverance that is on its way to you."  I don't think it occurs to us that we might be grieving God when we doubt Him.  We wouldn't want to be known as grieving God, but that is exactly what we are doing.  What great life lessons for our children.

I, too, want God to answer my prayers as soon as they are prayed.  I've definitely seen how delayed answers are God's way of showing me His love and wisdom.  One of the most obvious delays was in how long we looked for this farm.  We looked for 7 years.  That is a looong time!!!  I remember how many times I was so discouraged when we would come back week after week, farm after farm, after looking at so many different properties.  They were always too expensive or too much of a dump or a quarry was going to be put in or a railroad or a garbage dump or........ we were about to give up.  But through it all, I forced myself time and time again to try to trust God, to try to believe He was in control.  I faked it sometimes and would just say "thank you for not giving us a property right now", but deep down I wasn't very thankful.  But even faking it was ok as I knew getting a property when we weren't ready for it wouldn't have been good either.  I really did believe God was in control and I knew it was better that He was planning my life, not me. 

Now that we are on a farm, with animals and outbuildings and lots of grass to mow, I can see why God waited. There is no way we would have been able to do this when our children were so young.  It would have all been on my husband and that would have killed him.  Right from the beginning, our kids have basically run the farm, done all the lawn care and animal care, leaving my husband to take care of the big stuff as well as his business, which is enough on its own.  I'm so grateful for the delayed answer.  It has taught me to be more trusting of other delays, even in our debt-reduction.  I wanted it to be over and done with right away.  I'm already seeing how not answering my prayers right away have taught us multiple lessons and we've been able to see God work many miracles in the process.  Had he sent a big cheque in the mail on Day 1, I think we would have missed out on all the "deep secrets of love and wisdom" that He wanted us to have.
 
Is there really an office up in heaven?  No, but picturing it like that has helped me to try to be a more patient Christian.