Solutions April 2019 | Page 14

pray when you’re in a season of waiting? when God’s timing doesn’t feel perfect? Kyle: Waiting is why we most often give up. Time has a way of chipping at our determination. When “not yet” begins to seem like “not ever” we struggle to keep going. One of the ways I know someone of faith is giving up is that they stop praying and what is that if it’s not giving up. When you are prayerfully waiting it is a time to ask other believers to pray with you and for you. The burden has become heavy because you were not meant to bear it alone. As you ask other believers to pray for you, you will be encouraged by their prayers but also their testimony of how God was faithful to them in their season of waiting. Kyle: Hebrews 11 defines faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is believing that God sees what we don’t and understands what we can’t. Faith is like trying to put together a puzzle without the picture on the box. We don’t understand how all the pieces fit together but we keep believing that God has a picture in mind even if it’s not exactly the picture we were hoping for. He won’t waste the pieces and the picture will eventually come together. Kelinda: I have two beautiful children. Both were surprises. Both appeared on the scene back-to-back at inconvenient times, during the loss of a job and its required relocation. God’s timing certainly didn’t feel perfect then! But more than a decade later, I can see that they arrived right on schedule. What do you encourage people to do 14 • Solutions Kelinda: In your book, you talk about N e h e m i a h ’s o b s t a c l e c o u r s e i n rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. What is your biggest takeaway f ro m N e h e m i a h ’s e x p e r i e n c e ? Kyle: We often become discouraged and feel like giving up because we convince ourselves that obstacles are evidence that we are on the wrong path or that God isn’t with us. Nehemiah faced one obstacle after another and