Why do people give up on God? Why have you given up on God? Well, I don’t believe this is a difficult question to answer because most people typically give-up when God’s response time to their personal prayer or petition take too long!

While hanging in the balance, in lieu of staying in God’s presence (prayer, praise, and worship) people way too often choose to believe that God is absent (fear, doubt, and worry). We’ve all heard it said that, “God’s timing is perfect” and for the most part people accept that, but what they really want to know is which time zone is He using (CST, EST, GMT)?! Fact is, God doesn’t reside in time, rather time resides in God!

Let’s be honest, we want what we want when we want it and time is always of the essence! The undetected paradox in fostering this kind of mindset is that God already knows what we need even before we ask! Jesus told His disciples not to be like the babbling pagans of their time because God knows exactly what they need even before they ask (Matthew 6:7-8).

If you’re presently in a holding pattern my first suggestion is to make sure God isn’t waiting on you. If that’s not the case, I challenge you to recognize that God’s timing does two things: It grows your faith as you are forced to wait and trust in God and it makes certain that He, and He alone, gets the glory and praise for pulling you through. In Psalm 31:15, David said “My times are in Your hands …”

Maybe you haven’t given up on God, but perhaps you know somebody who has. If that’s you please remind them not to give up until God answers their prayers. Since time exists in God and God’s timing is perfect, it often takes a little longer for the Master to complete His masterpiece. God will always answer our prayers with either a “yes” or a “no” that’s intrinsically clear; all we need is to patiently wait until the right time for the answers, miracles, and breakthroughs to come.

In closing, when you feel like God is absent and/or deaf, He may actually be saving you from yourself. Saving you from your own desires that will lead you astray and potentially not turn out well. When you get into those moments where you feel like God isn’t listening that’s an indicator for you to trust Him even more. Therefore, take rest in knowing that God is in control! God knows, God sees, and God cares about you and everything your going through!