Patience: Trust in God's Timing

A couple months ago, my roommates and I were going to help someone move while it was snowing; of course this led to a snowball fight. All was going great, until a soft "dink" was heard. There war was paused until we could discover the source of the noise. To the alarm of one of my roommates, he discovered that his ring had slid off of his finger, bounced and landed in the wintery white blanket of snow. After a prayer, we began to comb the area, but to our dismay, the snow cloaked the ring from view dispite our best efforts.  As the days past, we continued our search hoping that as the snow melted the ring would appear. Days became weeks and we lost hope. The ring was gone.

Soon the ring became a memory, and all efforts to find it were abandon, until just recently, when a missionary, not there on that distant day when the ring vanished, and I were back in the area for dinner, and the thought came to me to look for it. I quickly pushed the thought away, wanting food instead and believing the ring was already claimed by a new owner who found it. We went to dinner only to be told we had to wait, and the thought came back to look for the ring. I, thinking it was about the only way to spend the free time, went on the hunt again. With the white cover removed from the ground, I quickly saw a metalic looking ring on the ground. Picking the object up, to my amazement, I found the ring!

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

Back on the day the ring pulled a Houdini, escaping from the my friend's finger, and disappeared into the snow, we asked to be able to find it, and for quite sometime, I thought the prayer would not be answered. We searched for it, and nothing. Our Heavenly Father did answer the prayer, but it was not answered in our timing, but His timing. The promise in this scripture was fulfilled, in time.

We have been trained to seek immediate results, push a button, the channel changes; dial a number, be connected with someone across the globe, and because of this we often get frustrated when the Lord does not work on our time table. I often find this the case in my life, I prayer for help with a trial I may face, or ask for a blessing, but it does not come as quickly as I may want. Though still working on it, I am learning patience, part of which includes trusting in the timing of the Lord. Patience includes being able to bear delay or trials without getting anxious or angry.

I was frustrated those first few days that we would never find the ring and gave up hope; despite my lack of patience, I was still helped in finding that ring. I know that God does answer prayers, it may just not been when we want them to be answered. Many times He wants to help us learn how to trust Him more fully, so as we prayer, let us be patient that we may see those promised blessings.