Sometimes it takes patience to practice faith

Most of you know that I enjoy fishing. Well, maybe that is an understatement. My dad taught me to fish when I was a child and my enjoyment of fishing has grown as I have.

I have grown to appreciate the time in the outdoors that fishing requires. I have grown to appreciate the challenge of finding fish and getting them to bite. I have grown to find joy and satisfaction in actually catching a fish. I enjoy eating the salmon or trout or halibut or whatever I catch. I even like to share what I catch with others. As you can see, the outdoors adventure we call fishing is a hobby that brings joy to my life.

I tell you this because we are currently in a time where fishing must wait. Two Mondays ago I fished with friend Gerry Zellar in a canoe on a local lake. We caught six nice trout. However, this past Monday there was a film of ice on the lakes and slush filled the rivers. We can’t fish in the open waters anymore, but this time of year the ice is not safe to walk on. It will probably take two to three weeks or more before the lakes are safe for ice fishing. This is the time of year fishermen just have to wait for the next opportunity to fish.

How are you when it comes to being patient or waiting? For many, any waiting in life is difficult. Faith in God often includes waiting in many ways. We wait on answers to prayer. Christians wait for God to keep his promises. We are waiting for Jesus to come again when all who believe in Jesus will live with him in heaven. Waiting takes faith and trust to know God is faithful.

I share these thoughts with you because of my experience this week. First, I had occasion in a time of worship to read Psalm 130, verses 5-6: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Ultimately it is God for whom we wait. But, God keeps his promises because God himself comes to help us. This has happened when Jesus came to this earth, after much waiting, to pay for the sins of the whole world and to offer eternal life in heaven to all who believe. It happens every time God answers a prayer or keeps a promise. Waiting for God teaches patience and hope. But we learn through our waiting that God is faithful, and the wait is worth it.

My other experience this week was to see two fervent prayers answered. One prayer I prayed for someone was answered in a matter of hours. I was surprised and full of joy when I prayed for someone, then saw that person up and around. The other was a prayer I’ve been praying for four or five years at the request of good friends. I learned this week that God is acting in the life of the person for whom I am praying, and doing wonderful things.

There have been some years when the lakes have a safe cover of ice very quickly. There have been other times when it seems like the opportunity to go ice fishing will never come. But in my 22 winters here in Alaska there has never been a winter that the ice fails to come. When the ice comes, the fishing that happens is worth the wait.

God is faithful. God comes to help us when he answers our prayers, no matter how long we have waited. Jesus will come again: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer. Contact him at jonrock53@mtaonline.net.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send email to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2268.