KEEP ON PRAYING
«Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying» (Romans 12:12, NLT).
When I moved to England, I stopped baking cakes for two reasons: first, because I live alone and it makes no sense to make a whole cake just for myself; second, because the apartment where I live has an electric stove, not a gas one. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, nothing tastes the same when baked in an electric oven. Nonetheless, last week I decided to bake a lemon zucchini cake (Yes! You read that right!) I bought the ingredients and followed a recipe. After baking it for one hour, I let it cool Although it looked spectacular on the outside, when I sliced into the first the cake had totally «flopped.» It was an absolute unsalvageable failure. My twin sister called me the following day and we talked about why a cake collapses. Our conversation was like a question and answer game of Ping-Pong:
“Did you open the oven door while it was baking?»
“No”
“Did you forget to preheat the oven?»
“No”
“Did you let it cool near a window or in a very cold place?»
“No”
Finally when we had gone through all the obvious reasons, my sister said, «I’ve read that if the oven is very hot when you put a pan in it, the walls of the cake have no time to form. Without that structure, the cake collapses.» I do not know if that was what made my cake flop. However, I kept on thinking about the importance of taking time to form the structure; about how progressing slowly is a blessing, not a punishment. Sometimes we pray and want God to solve our problem now. When we are not successful or get the deliverance we expected, we wonder if God is actually good and faithful. However, a blessing might be delayed so as to give us time to develop a character that will not «collapse» under the weight of success. In Counsels on Health, Ellen G. White reflects, «We all desire an immediate answer to our prayers and are tempted to become discouraged if our prayer is not immediately answered. Now, my experience has taught me that this is a great mistake. The delay is for our special benefit”—ch. 7, p. 380. Keep on trusting God. Even a delay can be a blessing.
Dear Lord, thank You for hearing every one of my prayers!
When I am tempted to give up and stop praying, remind me that you can bless me even through a delay.
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Take From: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2022
«NO FEARS»
BY: VANEZA PISSUTO
Collaborators: Alexandra Pérez & Angelica Cuate.