FAITH CAPSULE: You may have the clock in your hand but God only moves by His time.

Luke 1

There will always be reason to be afraid but reacting in fear results in reducing our faith.  Every time faith is reduced, fear will increase and God will withdraw. The appearance of Pharaoh and his army charging at the Israelites at the Red Sea called for enough reason to be afraid but not to react by giving in to fear. With fear they confessed negatives saying, “…Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” (Numbers 14:11-12) The Israelites waited for their miracle breakthrough but they could not celebrate it and died in the wilderness except for Caleb and Joshua. God is not pleased when faith ceases. God remains the same yesterday, today and forever. Zacharias a priest whose wife Elizabeth, was trusting God for the fruit of the womb, did not believe when at the appointed time for manifestation of his prayer an angel of the Lord appeared to him. At the appearance of the angel, he was afraid. The Bible recorded, “And When Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.” (Luke 1:12) Indeed, there was reason to be afraid, but allowing fear to trouble him reduced his faith. Despite his fear, the angel encouraged him, “…Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John…”(Luke 1:13-14) Zacharias prayed and God answered, but failed to celebrate when he began to question the angel, “…How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” (Luke 1:18) Just as his reaction was displeasing to God, so it was displeasing to the angel and he was prompted to pronounce the spirit of muteness and inability to speak upon him until the time of the birth of his son John. Are you holding on to your expectation from your prayer? You may have the clock in your hand but God only moves by His time. When manifestation is delayed by days, weeks, months or years, today is not the time to give up. God is also a God of the eleventh hour. Take to the word of God because it works. Present your request through prayer, position yourself by meditating and you will celebrate and not be mute and speechless when your miracle shows forth.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to keep you from giving up hope.