Praising God with Enduring Faith

The old man watched the road through dim eyes. “They should have returned home days ago. Perhaps the wagons had broken down again.” He knew that God was faithful, but his spirit was as worn as his tired body. Nothing had been the same since his young son had died, and the other sons were always causing him worry. Then came the drought and everything on the farm dried up. Still he would praise God.

First he saw the dust rising in the distance; soon he could hear the rumbling of wagon wheels. Excitement grew as they got closer, then hope fell like another weighty sorrow. Those were not his wagons. They were grand and new, his were old, and worn.

What had his adult children been up to now? Why were they driving new wagons? Would he ever have a day of peace? Sin had caught up, and they were forced to tell their Father of a terrible deed they had done years ago; the thing that had destroyed the joy of his life. There was good news to tell also. God had turned their evil deed into good, Joseph was alive.

Jacob could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent, his spirit revived.” (Genesis 45:26-27) His weeping turned to joy, and the long night of many years became a new day. It always does for those who have enduring faith.

We, too, may have prayed prayers that went out like a rickety wagon to the throne of God. Sometimes we wait and wait as we looked down the dusty road of our soul. Keep praising the Lord and keep on with enduring faith. New wagons are coming, and they are loaded with answers to prayer.

“God answers prayer in the morning,
God answers prayer at noon;
God answers prayer in the evening,
So keep your heart in tune.”