I knew someone would ask the question eventually.

Others have skirted it, asking me general questions about faith and waiting.  But this young woman had the courage to actually ask it.

“If you wrote a book about faith and believing God, why hasn’t it worked for you yet?”

So there it was.  The question.  One that I’ve asked myself on occasion, but never really had to answer completely.

I was grateful for her question.  It forced me to dig deeper, to look for my defense, to put into words just how I could still believe God and trust Him when it appears that the big thing I’m trusting Him for hasn’t happened for me…yet.

But that’s the thing about faith.  It’s the evidence of things not seen.  It’s the patient waiting when the calendar pages keep turning.  It’s hanging onto that little word “yet”.

At this time of year it’s easy to get all wrapped up in the sentiment of the baby and the manger and the singing angels and the joy to the world.  But sometimes we forget just how long Israel waited for that moment.  God hadn’t forgotten His promise.  But He had a perfect time to fulfill it.  Not too soon.  Certainly not too late.

And so I can boldly answer that young woman’s question with this: My faith cannot be dependent on what I see, or what I don’t see, or how much time has gone by.  My life and its circumstances are placed in the hands of a God who can be trusted.

Because as the story of Christmas reminds us, God always has a plan, and His timing is always just right.

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him to the soul who seeks Him.  Lamentations 3:25

And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Psalm 39:7

Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. James 5:7