Suddenly not speedily

I smiled when I saw the bag of chips on the counter top yesterday. Lay’s Kettle Cooked, Original Flavor. I saw my dad grab the bag and offer Yasser, my husband, some. He then, closed them back up and took them to the pantry. My heart was full of joy to see that bag of chips, so unimportant to anyone else, but to me, knowing what I knew, filled my heart with gratitude.

Not too long ago, times where so hard. Not too long ago, my faith had run out. Not too long ago, I was in a constant state of sadness and my heart longed to laugh and smile. My heart ached for the pain people dear to me faced.

“Suddenly, not speedily,” the Rabbi at my Synagogue always says as He talks on God answering prayers. Suddenly, not speedily. I hanged on to that phrase and would try to believe that yes, suddenly, God would respond, God would wipe our tears away, God would bring out the sun again and God,  God would reach out His hand from the heavens and reach down to help our needy situation.

Oh how sudden it was. Not at all speedy.  Just sudden. Close to four years and it is still a work in progress but we can begin to see its fruit. We can begin to reap some harvest from all the work we had been sowing. It is extremely hard to sow time after time, and not reap any harvest. We get tired, we get doubtful, and sometimes we get angry. But God motivates us by promising a promise that I can testify to, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

My sweet, God-filled daddy, firmly held on to this promise, and as others and myself at times suggested him to give up and look for something else to do, look for another dream to work towards to; he never gave up. He believed in the promises the Almighty wrote to him, thousands of years ago. When his business seemed to take away, rather than to give, he believed, when his business caused stress and tears, he believed, and when hope seemed lost, he still chose to believe.

Not too long ago, a $2.75 bag of chips never made it to the shopping list or the shopping cart. It was not a necessity, it was not an option, it was a, “not today, item.” So when I saw that bag lay on that counter top yesterday, and saw the abundance of food there was in the pantry and refrigerator, my heart was extremely happy and moved with joy and gratitude, to the Man who makes rainbows out of rain, and light from darkness, and joy from brokenness .

So when the rain is pouring down on you, and you feel like giving up, when you keep toiling over a field that seems to give no fruit, when you wonder if the sun will ever appear, remember, “suddenly, not speedily!” Remember the Exodus-suddenly, not speedily. Remember Sarah and Abraham-suddenly, not speedily. Remember- Yeshua’s return-suddenly, not speedily!!

A man wanting to get a tattoo described the story behind the tattoo. He had four beautiful daughters, the youngest had about 20 seizures a day and maybe an hour out of the entire day, she was stable. He talked about how he questioned God for the pain and why the rain would never seem to seize. Until suddenly, God begin to relieve the seizures, the pain, the brokenness. She is now 7 and a miracle daughter, she was given only 3 years to live. His tattoo was God's hand stretching out from the sky reaching out to the dads hand that stretched out from the dirt, the ground- where he fills God pulled him out from.

Believe today, God is stretching His hand out from the heavens to yours, reach out and grasp His hand for in due time, you shall SUDDENLY see the miracle God will perform in your life.