Hi,

God is good. He is good all the time! We should stop and count His blessings.

It will definitely surprise us! His blessings come in all shapes and sizes. The old hymn says, Great is thy faithfulness,

         Great is thy faithfulness, 
         Morning by morning his mercies I see.
         All that I needed, his hands have provided.
         Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord unto me

Sometimes God takes us through the fire and the flood. In the midst of that, it can be very frightening. We always wonder will the fire consume us or  the flood water drown us? It is so comforting when His word tell us that the ‘when we go through the fire, it shall not consume us; through the flood, the water will not drown us' (Isaiah 43:2)

We see that so clearly in the Bible. Daniel and the three Hebrew youth were not burnt when they were thrown into the fiery furnace. When the great flood came in the times of Noah, he and his family were safe in the Ark. They were not drowned because of their faith in the Lord. We can trust the promises of God. He promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us ( Heb 13:5 )

I am thinking of a man that I was introduced to about four years ago. When I met him, he was a broken man. He had lost almost everything after having enjoyed many years of prosperity and good things. Through some wrong calculations and driven by greed for  more, it was disastrous. That night, as we sat to talk, he was suicidal. His reasoning is that, if he dies, the family will at least get some insurance compensation. I remember reasoning with him not to do that but to try another way. I offered him Jesus. He was open to that idea because he had nothing to loose. At least, he has another try. I told him that it will not be an instantaneous restoration of wealth, BUT, He will help him through in the years ahead. He will not fail him but will walk with him. He accepted the challenge and I prayed with him.

That was about four years ago. I kept in touch with him. I was so glad when things slowly but surely begin to change. It was a tough road of recovery but Jesus did it. The last time I saw him, he was telling me of how the Lord has helped him and that he is quite comfortable in his present situation. It took four years but Jesus never leaves him nor forsakes him. He was faithful to his bargain in trusting Jesus all the way.

You see, God does not always promise us instant results! We are the ones who demand instant results from Him. The only problem with instant results is that we tend to forget Him very easily. Sometimes we fail to be grateful and think that we have accomplished it by our self efforts. I have counseled and prayed for so many people. I have seen how God so miraculously blessed them and some instantaneously. I have seen these same people leave the church, leave the Lord and become very proud and arrogant. They have forgotten where they came from. I think it grieved the heart of our heavenly father.

I think that's why we have to endure heavenly delays! He knows best!

If you are still waiting for the fulfillment of Hs promises, hang in there. In His own time, He will make all things beautiful. Let Him take you through and come forth as a shining light for Him.

Thanks for reading.

Rev. Dr Patrick Lau
Senior Pastor
Calvary Assembly of God