I was stuck in downtown Buda the other day waiting on a train.  And I was waiting and waiting and waiting.  The railroad crossing arms were down, the lights were flashing and traffic was backed up for a couple of blocks.  I had been waiting in line for several minutes and apparently some of the people in the front of the line decided they had waited long enough.  They pulled out of line, did a U-turn and headed back the other direction.  No doubt they were going to take another route to their destination, one which would take them a few miles further down the road in hopes of not having to wait any longer for that train.  And I guess I don’t blame them, we had been waiting for a while and there was no way to know how much longer we would have to wait.  But sure enough, as soon as they turned around and were headed the other direction, the train finally came.   The crossing arms went up and we were on our way.  If they had only held out a little longer, they would have been at the front of the line.

The situation with waiting for the train and be willing to wait just a little bit longer reminded me of more than one passage of scripture.  First I thought of Daniel chapter 10 where Daniel had been fasting and praying for three weeks.  Daniel had been seeking and waiting on a word from God for 21 days.  The Bible tells us that God responded to Daniel’s prayer by dispatching an angel the very moment that Daniel began to pray.  But even though the angel was dispatched at that moment, the answer, the response was not immediate.  The angel tells Daniel that his arrival was delayed by a battle with the prince of the kingdom of Persia which lasted for 21 days.  What would have happened if David gave up and stopped praying soon after he started?  What would have happened if David would have grown weary of waiting and made a spiritual U-turn on the 19th or 20th day and decided to go another direction?  Perhaps, his answer may have not come.

Oh dear friend, please know, prayer matters.  Prayer makes a difference.  Don’t give up.  Don’t grow weary in this regard.  Hang in there a little longer.  The train has left the station and it will come to pass.

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.