Kneeling We Triumph Volume One: The Beauty of Delayed Answers

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In the book, Kneeling We Triumph Volume One compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, there is a reading entitled “The beauty of delayed answers.” In this reading, the authors have included a moving prayer uttered by the blind poet and hymn-writer, George Matheson and author of that well-known hymn, “O love that will not let me go”:
“My Father, help me to learn that I am heir to possessions which exceed my present holding! They exceed my present power to hold—they are waiting for my summer. Do I ever thank Thee for the blessings which Thou postponest? I am afraid not. I am like the prodigal: I want to get all at once the portion that falleth to me; and, where it is not given, I deem it is refused. Teach me, O Lord, the beauty of Thy delayed answers.”

In the moment of its crying
Came no answer to my heart,
But, long-deferred, it came with blessing
In a quiet place apart.
Seldom in the midst of toiling
Do we reap our recompense.
It may come when hands are folded
In a sunset hour long hence.
Not in thunderous crash of earthquake,
Not in whirlwind or in fire,
Not in voice of sounding trumpet
Does God speak our deep desire.
But with strife and fretting over—
Waiting—all serene and still,
We may hear the whispered message
Teaching us His perfect will.
When we school our hearts to patience
God reveals His better way.
Proving oft that His tomorrow
Is far better than today.
—Kathryn Blackburn Peck.

The above quotations are taken from Kneeling We Triumph Volume One, published by Harvey Christian Publishers and available in their Online Christian Bookstore.

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