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『凡等候祂的，都是有福的。』（賽三十章十八節）
關於等候神的真理，我們已經聽得很多了。
有些人說－也有很多人相信－我們一履行了所有的條件，神就要立即答應我們的禱告。他們說：神永遠是現在的神；在神沒有過去，也沒有將來；如果我們能夠順服祂的旨意，實行祂的命令，立刻我們的需要可以得到供給，我們的慾望可以得到滿足，我們的禱告可以得到答應。
這種信仰也有很多真理，但是可惜只表達了真理的一面。神永遠是現在的神，這句話一點都不錯；但是神行事，是有祂的「時候」的。一個呈在神前的請求，好像一粒在地裡的種子。上面的力，必須多方栽培，答應纔會得到真實的實現。－譯自微小的聲音（The Still Small Voice.）
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“Blessed are all they that wait for him.” (Isa. 30:18.)
We hear a great deal about waiting on God. There is, however, another side. When we wait on God, He is waiting till we are ready; when we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready. There are some people who say, and many more who believe, that as soon as we meet all the conditions, God will answer our prayers. They say that God lives in an eternal now; with Him there is no past not future; and that if we could fulfill all that He requires in the way of obedience to His will, immediately our needs would be supplied, our desires fulfilled, our prayers answered. There is much truth in this belief, and yet it expresses only one side of the truth. While God lives in an eternal now, yet He works out His purposes in time. A petition presented before God is like a seed dropped in the ground. Forces above and beyond our control must work upon it, till the true fruition of the answer is given. --- The Still Small Voice.
I longed to walk along an easy road,
And leave behind the dull routine of home,
Thinking in other fields to serve my God;
But Jesus said, “My time has not yet come.”
I longed to sow the seed in other soil,
To be unfettered in the work, and free,
To join with other laborers in their toil;
But Jesus said. “’Tis not My choice for thee.”
I longed to leave the desert, and be led
To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame,
That I might win them; but the Master said,
“I have not called thee, publish here My name.”
I longed to fight the battles of my King,
Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;
But my great Captain bade me wait and sing
Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.
I longed to leave the uncongenial sphere,
Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,
To feel I had some human helper near,
But Jesus bade me guard one lonely gate.
I longed to leave the round of daily toil,
Where no one seemed to understand or care;
But Jesus said, “I choose for thee this soil,
That thou might’st raise for Me some blossoms rare.”
And now I have no longing but to do
At home, or else afar, His blessed will,
To work amid the many or the few;
Thus, “choosing not to choose,” my heart is still.
--- Selected.
“And Patience was willing to wait.” --- Pilgrim’s Progress.
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