PATIENTLY ENDURING

" A CAKE IN THE OVEN."

Precious Ones, Our hearts have been torn out with the painful letters that we have received from many of you that want this horrible nightmare over! We are at a loss for words most of the time and feel so very inadequate except for being able to pray for each and every one of you, your spouses and children, daily. Please allow me to share from my heart with you..... While watching some of the Olympics, I saw something that I had never noticed before...the absolute difference between a sprint runner and marathon runner. Let's first look at the sprint runner (my observations, not a technical one): they have massive thigh muscles for the strength & power needed in their run; they have sculpted arm, chest, neck & abdomen muscles for the strength needed in pulling themselves forcefully into another step; they train by lifting weights and building more & more muscle for strength in the burst of power that they will need in their run. Mean while, the marathon runner looks emaciated! They mostly train by...running...& running...& running...& running.... They "look" as though there is not one ounce of fat on them...sunken cheek bones...ribs protuding...you would never know that they were an athlete if you passed them in the store, yet they can endure a run of 30 miles and hardly seem out of breath! What then, is the sprinter a better athlete than the marathon runner, or is the marathon runner a better athlete than the sprinter? Neither! They can both be CHAMPIONS in what they have been called to do and have trained for, and yet, they would STINK in the other person's shoes! What have we been called to do as Christians? We have been called to run, with perseverance, the race marked out for us! (Hebrews 12:1) Some of the battles (races) that we will go through in life will be as a sprint, others, as a marathon! As I was standing during our valley, I had no idea how long it would last. In everything that God was asking of me, I had NO idea how long it would take, so the choices of obedience that I was having to make were made with the fear of it taking ten or twenty years! The enemy used "time" as one of his greatest weapons against me, and guess what, I had no Scripture to use against that weapon except that God would be Faithful to His promises! God NEVER told me when it would be over, or how long or short of a time I would have to endure. Wouldn't it have been "nicer" of God to have told me the time table so that the suffering wouldn't have been as great? God knows our sinful, flesh nature; I would have still been unhappy because nothing would have "satisfied" that in me except for hearing that "today is the day"! I remember the Lord teaching me about the "time factor" by using a cake baking in an oven as an example....Say I wanted to bake a cake....I preheat the oven to 350 degrees, mix together the best, and most expensive ingredients that I can find....no "generic" in this cake! I measure out each ingredient perfectly....no guessing in this cake! I follow (obey) the recipe perfectly and am so pleased as I place it on the proper rack in the hot oven and close the door - all just as the recipe called for! I then open back up the oven door and take out my "cake" and, I am so disappointed!!! All it is a soupy mess...unfit to serve to anyone! But I followed the instructions to the hilt! I bought the best ingredients! I even sifted the ingredients! I put it in the oven, at 350, just like it said! I DID EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE POSSIBLY HAVE DONE, AND I DID IT RIGHT!!!....and yet I am sooo disappointed....it didn't turn out like I wanted....what a failure. Could the Author of the recipe have been wrong?! He must not have known what He was doing because I did everything right and yet it didn't turn out as the Recipe had said it would! The truth is....yes, I did everything right BUT allow for the allotted time that the recipe had called for! It is during this "time" that a chemical change will happen as the cake batter is heated to bubbling; it will literally be transformed from useless liquid to a magnificent cake that brings many compliments and praises from all who consume it. Without "TIME" that cake was nothing. Even with all the effort that was put into it; it was during the PROCESS of TIME.....the enduring of the heat.....that transformed it into the useful product that I had desired! Could I have "settled" for a "half-baked", liquid "cake"? I could have tried to have been satisfied with it, but in my heart I would have known that it wasn't really a cake at all...only soupy pudding...not the real thing!

2 Corinthians 1:8b - "....We are under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. (Been there!) Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." Hallelujah!

2 Timothy 4:5 - "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

Revelation 3:10 - "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth." (Sounds like we're being prepared for even bigger things than our marriages being healed!)

I have cried...."WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!!!! What have I not done?!!! How much longer??!! ...haven't I waited long enough??!! ....haven't I cried enough tears??!! ....haven't I prayed enough ...do I have doubt?....Is God so disgusted with me that He refuses to answer me?! Is this all a cruel joke??!! I have God's Word and promises of what He is going to do, and that HE IS GOING TO DO IT!!!....But when?!!" I want to share with you....I have been waiting on a healing in my body for 15 years. I thank God everyday that my husband is by my side, but where is my healing?? That is something that my husband can not give me!

Romans 9:14-21 - "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will?' But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?"

I am still learning that I don't have the "right" to question God. Remember when Sarah (Gen. 18:10-15) questioned God? She did so in UNBELIEF! Remember when Mary questioned (Luke 1:34)? She did not ask in unbelief but KNEW her God could and would!....."Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" - Luke 1:45. Unbelief & rebellion are the ultimate weapons that satan will use! Because of unbelief & rebellion, that Israelite generation was not able to enter into the promise land (Hebrews 3:19). BUT I'M SOOOO TIRED OF HEARING PEOPLE TELL ME I NEED MORE FAITH......MORE FAITH!!!! What can I do? What more should I do?

Hebrews 6:15- "And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised." Hallelujah!!!

"But Lord, I've waited for 15 years ALREADY!" "Wait some more." "But Father, do You really know the physical, emotional and spiritual pain that I am in everyday? How could you want to leave me like this?" "It is through sufferings that I make you Holy. Rest, and trust Me. Keep your focus on ME, NOT what is going on in your life. It is NOT for your distruction that I am making, molding and crushing you; it is for the construction of you into the image of My Son. You bring Glory to Me as a living sacrifice, and I reward all who abide in Me!"

He matures us into vessels that He can use and that will bring Him glory, and it is a very painful time. But praise God IT WILL END! IT WILL ONE DAY BE OVER!....."And the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame." Romans 9:33b...."Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame." Romans 10:11.

From Streams in the Desert: "Abraham was long tried, but he was richly rewarded. The Lord tried him by delaying to fulfill His promise. Satan tried him by temptation; men tried him by jealously, distrust, and opposition; Sarah tried him by her peevishness. But he patiently endured. He did not question God's veracity, nor limit His power, nor doubt His faithfulness, nor grieve His love; but he bowed to Divine Sovereignty, submitted to Infinite wisdom, and was silent under delays, waiting the Lord's time. And so, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. God's promises cannot fail of their accomplishment. Patient waiters cannot be disappointed. Believing expectation shall be realized. Beloved, Abraham's conduct condemns a hasty spirit, reproves a murmuring one, commends a patient one, and encourages quiet submission to God's will and way. Remember, Abraham was tried; he patiently waited; he recieved the promise, and was satisfied. Imitate his example, and you will share the same blessing."

See, we can have faith (just like having all the right ingredients for a cake), but it is the ENDURING in that faith that brings the results. Then to add PATIENTLY onto that.....WOW!!!!

- Nelson's Bible Dictionary - Patience: Forbearance under suffering and endurance in the face of adversity.

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Patience: Patience implies suffering, enduring or waiting, as a determination of the will and not simply under necessity. We need to "wait patiently" for God, to endure uncomplainingly the various forms of sufferings, wrongs and evils that we meet with, and to bear patiently injustices that we can not remedy and provocations we can not remove.

We never thought that "baking a cake" could ever be so painful, uh? Each and every one of us, as Christians, will always have some type of "cake in the oven"....some requiring more time than others, others less time. The true test comes in our willingness to, daily, turn our troubles over to the Father for us to be able to endure the test. We can rejoice in this: that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author & Finisher of our faith, has the "timer" in His hand and KNOWS when it will "go off", and our cake be done! Each and every passing moment, in the meantime, is for a Sovereign purpose. Let us rest and trust in Him to be Faithful - whether we see it now or not - in His maturing us.

Romans 5: 3-5 - "....we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

Thank you for allowing me to share from my heart to yours. May God continue to bless you as you allow Him to strengthen you during this "enduring process" in your race to see victory in your life and in the lives of your spouse and children. Love, Cindy