Kitty-like persistence.

     If you own a cat, you know they can be pretty persistent in requesting what they want.  Once they decide on something, they're pretty clear in communicating their wishes.  But they don't always use sound, do they?  Sometimes they use body language.  I have a cat who is rather skittish.  She's afraid of almost everything that moves.  But she loves attention.  She came up to me recently and put her paws on my leg, and rubbed her head in my hand, and made it clear that she wanted to be petted.  When I had to do other things, she stayed with me, and did not leave for quite a while, even though I left her alone and stopped petting her.  She kept on asking for attention.  I think we can all learn something from my cat.  Here's what I mean.

     We all have a lot going on in our lives.  No one seems to have tons of extra time anymore.  So we all look for convenience.  When we order a pizza, we expect it to be ready when we want it ready, and get irked at waiting times longer than ten minutes (at least I do).  We need that YouTube video to load so we can move on to our next email.  Even our social lives get hurried.  Thus Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks supposedly grant us convenience in our friendships.  There's nothing wrong with added convenience.  But what if convenience becomes such a way of life that we can't wait, and we give up or take matters into our own hands if we have to wait too long?  Pizza Hut takes too long, so we go to Little Caesar's.  YouTube won't load, so we delete the email.

     In each of these cases, we receive and lose something.  We receive convenience, but we get an icky pizza.  We get to the next email, but we lose that cute video of our cousins.  All because we want it now.

     The biggest trouble occurs when we apply the convenience craze to God.  We expect something to arrive from God as soon as we ask for it.  If it doesn't we may wonder what's wrong, or try to find our own way to get what we want or need.  If we're not careful, we can end up substituting our own solutions because we didn't want to wait for God.  So we ask God to get us a nice new car, and when we have to wait more than a month, we go buy an affordable, but not very nice car.  We ask God to speak to us, but after nothing but silence for five minutes, we decide to move on to something else.    In each of these cases, we can end up losing out on what God has for us because we just can't wait.

     What we're forgetting is that God is smarter than we are, and always has a reason for the response He gives, or the supposed delays in those responses.  Someone could ask, "But why doesn't God get on it right away?  Am I not a high enough priority?"  The answer to the last question is of course not.  You are a very high priority to God, regardless of what condition you're in.  Sometimes we don't understand why God acts the way He does.  That's when we need to wait for Him, and trust Him to do what is best for us.  In a verse I've quoted before, we learn that God has different ways from ours.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)

  As Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (NKJV)  Take a look at Psalm 37.  This chapter tells us to wait on God a number of times.  Here are some examples:

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass." (v.7)

"For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth." (v.9)

"Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it." (v.34)  (NKJV, emphasis added.)

     We need to wait on God.  Take the example of the Psalmist:

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope."  (Psalm 130:5 NKJV)

     When we hit crisis, it's even more tempting to take things into our own hands.  But we just need to be patient and pray.  Each of us has to wait on God at one time or another.  And when we do, He will make it work out for good.  So don't try to rush God, because He knows what He's doing.  Just keep praying.  Don't give up.  Remember what Jesus said in Luke 11:9-10. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (NKJV)  Did you notice that He doesn't add a qualifying term of time?  He did not say, "he who seeks, finds in a week" or "everyone who asks, receives that instant".  God has perfect timing, so we can trust Him.  So keep asking, and you'll get an answer.  It may be no, but you will be answered.  Take the extra time to trust Him.  It's always worth it.

     So that's what my cat can teach us.  Even if you don't seem to be getting a response, keep communicating with God.  Stay in His presence and pray.  He's listening, and loves you more than anyone else can.






(NKJV Means New King James Version)