file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940326.txt
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                        Saturday, March 26, 1994
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          Read:  1 Samuel 1:1-18

                                     PUT ON HOLD

                    Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
                                    --Psalm 37:7

          I'm  sure  you've had it happen to you.  You call  the  appliance
          store  and  ask for the service department.  "Can  you  hold?"  a
          cheerful voice asks, and before you know it you're hearing music.
          Every so often a taped message assures you that your call will be
          answered.  You  wait and wait.  You think, 'I could  have  driven
          over there and back by now!'  You feel forgotten and that  nobody
          cares.

          Sometimes it seems that God has put us on hold.  We pray and pray
          about  a  matter  of extreme  importance,  but  nothing  happens.
          Nothing!

          I'm sure that's how Hannah felt.  She was asking God for a  baby.
          Childlessness  was  a curse in her day.  To make  it  worse,  her
          husband's  other wife ridiculed her  mercilessly.  Hannah  wanted
          desperately to give her husband a child.  She prayed out of  deep
          pain and bitterness.  Yet year after year she did not conceive.

          How can we reconcile the apparent silence of God to our  repeated
          prayers?  Remember  that God's wisdom  surpasses  our  own.  What
          we're asking for might harm us.  We can't see the whole  picture.
          Our timing is not God's timing.

          When God puts you "on hold," don't grumble.  You can entrust your
          most  cherished longings and desires to Him, and  then  patiently
          wait for Him to answer.

          Author:  David C. Egner

                          When we call out to You, O Lord,
                         And wait for answers to our prayer,
                          Give us the patience that we need
                        And help us sense Your love and care.
                                       --Sper

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          When God puts You on hold, don't hang up!

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:   1 Samuel 1-3

          

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