Based on Luke 18:1-8

MEMORY TEXT:  “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34).

There are some who suggest that the reason we suffer is a lack of faith on our part.  My life is teaching me that faith does not make my problems or suffering of the moment go away; rather, faith in God gets me through them.  Scripture teaches that we should live one day at a time (Matthew 6:34).  There are moments when, if we thought that every day would be like today, we would throw up our hands in despair.

While speaking at a camp meeting, I visited a nearby graveyard that dated from the 1600’s.  I was deeply moved as I walked from gravestone to gravestone.  It was impressive to notice that, although there were a few who had died at a ripe old age, the majority had died young.  Many had been laid to rest in their 30s, 40s, and 50s.  Also, there were a number of young children buried there.  One inscription on a 12-year-old child’s grave told that he had died while swimming in the river.  I could only imagine his parents’ grief.

This life is about suffering and finally death.  If that’s all there is, life would be nothing short of a mockery.  But as we open our hearts to God in prayer, we can look from a present that, as in the case of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, appears bleak and seemingly the end of the road, to something wonderful beyond and say with the apostle Paul, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

We can move on from mere submission to God’s will to complete agreement with Him, because He is faithful that promised (Hebrews 10:23).

It is unfortunate that when we speak of the will of God it is often in reference to some calamity.  We must grow in our prayers until we see the will of God not as defeat but as victory.  I heard of a woman who was actually pleased when God didn't answer her prayers the way she wanted, because then she knew that God's will was being done and not hers!

His ways are not our ways—His ways are better.