DELIVERED BUT UNREAD
There she sat with her phone held in her hands, she stared at the screen of the phone for longer than usual, shook her head and then looked up. She wondered why the message sent to her colleague had remained unread nor acknowledged. This was unusual as Rosy was Ninny’s pleasant friend who had worked with her for close to a decade. She had been a dependable and diligent worker. Unknown to her, Rosy had read the message and had marked it unread and remained mute because she had a bigger and robust plan to surprise her later in the day when she returns from her official trip.
Many messaging platforms have emerged after the initial SMS/text systems. These platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger now make it easy for senders to have feedback on the status of their messages. Senders now know whether messages were sent successfully, delivered or even read before they eventually get response from the recipient. Believers’ only way of communicating with God is through prayers. Sometimes, there are no obvious or visible signs of answers after prayers, but our only means to know that our messages were delivered, heard and would be responded to is our faith in Christ, God’s word and our belief in the person of God, knowing He never fails.
Sometimes after praying, the enemy makes us doubt and think what we requested will never come to pass. He reminds us of the magnitude of our problems and how hard we had tried to solve them. Sometimes, he throws us into despair and we outrightly give up on our request because the answer had been delayed for so long. The truth is, delay is not denial. Even though God bears long with us, He will never fail (Luke 18: 7). The psalmist knew God takes note of his many requests and sadness, he pleaded that God should put his tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Proverbs 24:10 says if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
We only need to re-examine ourselves: are there sins in our lives that make our plea to heaven bounce back? Are there expectations from Heaven that we are not fulfilling? Is our request part of God’s plan for our lives? If everything is right, we only need to re-strategize, pray with more fervency and be more importunate in tabling our requests. Where necessary, we may need to add fasting to our requests. Praying with special reference to and standing on a particular scriptural promise that speaks to our situation, and joining our faith with another believer or anointed minister helps our prayers too. Whatever the situation we are faced with, God is able. Never doubt this for a moment, He is able, more than able, and He will answer your prayers.
What we perceive as delays at times are prayers already answered by God but which we can’t see yet because of our limited knowledge as humans. Daniel’s prayers had been answered long before he saw it. Cornelius never knew God noticed his yearning for God and support for God’s people before God sent Peter to minister to Him. What we are praying for sometimes has come, but it takes a process before it eventually manifests. God may be doing some calculations in His omnipotence and omniscience to ensure our answers come at the right time, in the right way and through the right people.
Dear readers, God has not forgotten you. Can you say ‘God has not forgotten me’ ? Yes, He hasn’t. So, wipe your tears, look up, your message has been delivered and read, your miracle is near (Amen)
© Pause and Ponder