Over the past year, I have gotten into building up my video game collection. I downloaded every single one of my favorite video games from when I was a kid all the way up until now. That ranged from ps2, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gameboy, ps3, and ps4 games. It was nostalgic to play all my old games and remember the great times I had playing them as a kid.
Something I noticed as I was downloading them was that there was a loading screen that would often take way longer than the estimated finish time. It could have taken 20 minutes or it could have taken all day. I would start the download and then come back expecting for it to be done, but when I came back it was only at 25%. It was super frustrating.
There is a story in the Bible about a character named Hannah found in the book of 1 Samuel. Hannah was one of two wives of a man named Elkanah. His other wife, Peninnah, had many children, but Hannah had none because “the Lord had closed up her womb.” (1 Samuel 1:6) Year after year Hannah cried out desperately for God to give her a child but it never happened.
Her rival, Peninnah, would provoke her and brag about how many children she had which added further insult to Hannah’s suffering. She eventually grew bitter yet it did not stop her from praying and asking God for a miracle. Finally, after almost 20 years of praying, hoping, and waiting, Hannah gave birth to a son. She named her son “Samuel” which means “God has heard” because she asked the Lord for Him. (1 Samuel 1:20) Samuel grew up to become a prophet and eventually anointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David.
Like Hannah, there was a season in my life when my patience was tested for a situation that took way longer than I thought it would. My wife and I had just gotten married in the middle of the 2020 pandemic and I had lost my job. I was expecting to find a new job within a couple weeks but it ended up taking almost 7 months of interviewing, waiting, and getting rejected. I would continually pray and ask God to make a way but it seemed like it would never happen.
I would also see other people easily find the jobs that I wanted and like Hannah, I became bitter. However, I kept on persevering, seeking opportunities, and asking God to make a way and I eventually found a job at a kitchen remodeling company. It definitely wasn’t the most ideal work, but it paid the bills and opened up other opportunities for me in the future.
Maybe you are waiting on one of God’s promises to come to pass in your life. It could be an opportunity to open up in your career, a relationship to be restored in your life, for your business to grow, or maybe you’re waiting to hear back from a job interview like I was. Maybe it is a dream or vision that you saw for yourself but what you see right now in your life looks nothing like what you imagined.
In these moments, the key is trusting that even if it doesn’t look like it right now, all of God’s promises will come to pass. The Bible says, “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) Don’t quit, you are just in the middle of the loading screen. Keep on persevering and trusting that eventually, the download will finish and your prayers will be answered.
The Bigger Picture: All of God’s promises will come to pass, but the timeframe isn’t up to us. It’s our job to trust the process and be patient with the loading screen.
The Bigger Picture 