Prayer and Doubt
What to Do While We Wait for the Answer
Have you ever spent a long time waiting on an answer to a prayer? I have. Unanswered prayers bring on doubt. Doubt turns to fear. It opens the door to anxiety. And before we know it, we join the rest of the world in their gloom and complaining.
We’re not alone; the Israelites join us in that grumbling:
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14: 10–14).
Have you ever complained like that? I have. And that’s because we’re deep into our own struggles. We end up terrified like the Israelites. We grumble in the hot desert of frustration. And as we trudge through the dry land of conflict, of uncertainty and nervousness, we desperately look for God’s answer, a clear path, a solution; we look to be rescued now.
But no one is there.
And we have our own Egyptians, called stress and anxiety, that chase us, threatening to ruin our day.
But if Moses were alive today, he might post a message to all of us
What to Do While We Wait for the Answer
Have you ever spent a long time waiting on an answer to a prayer? I have. Unanswered prayers bring on doubt. Doubt turns to fear. It opens the door to anxiety. And before we know it, we join the rest of the world in their gloom and complaining.
We’re not alone; the Israelites join us in that grumbling:
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14: 10–14).
Have you ever complained like that? I have. And that’s because we’re deep into our own struggles. We end up terrified like the Israelites. We grumble in the hot desert of frustration. And as we trudge through the dry land of conflict, of uncertainty and nervousness, we desperately look for God’s answer, a clear path, a solution; we look to be rescued now.
But no one is there.
And we have our own Egyptians, called stress and anxiety, that chase us, threatening to ruin our day.
But if Moses were alive today, he might post a message to all of us
Prayer and Doubt
What to Do While We Wait for the Answer
Have you ever spent a long time waiting on an answer to a prayer? I have. Unanswered prayers bring on doubt. Doubt turns to fear. It opens the door to anxiety. And before we know it, we join the rest of the world in their gloom and complaining.
We’re not alone; the Israelites join us in that grumbling:
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14: 10–14).
Have you ever complained like that? I have. And that’s because we’re deep into our own struggles. We end up terrified like the Israelites. We grumble in the hot desert of frustration. And as we trudge through the dry land of conflict, of uncertainty and nervousness, we desperately look for God’s answer, a clear path, a solution; we look to be rescued now.
But no one is there.
And we have our own Egyptians, called stress and anxiety, that chase us, threatening to ruin our day.
But if Moses were alive today, he might post a message to all of us
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