Have you ever asked the Lord for something that took a long time to get? Have you ever had dreams that you thought would come true sooner than later; only to discover they still haven't happened yet? Are you waiting for an answered prayer, and you just don't understand why things are taking so long? God is a good Father who wants to bless His children, but often times a "suddenly" blessing would actually hurt them.
One reason why many children of God don't receive "instant" change is because they just flat out wouldn't be able to handle it. For example; we may think what we need is a large bill to be paid quickly; when God knows what we actually need is to know He will take care of us whether the bill is paid or not. In fact, often times when we don't get what we asked for right away; it exposes what's really going on in our hearts, and that's what He's after. He wants to bless us, but He wants us to trust Him with our entire life.
Our minds need to be renewed to the truth of God, our belief systems need to change to know God's goodness, our mindsets need to be revamped in order to have the capacity to handle what Jesus died to give us. If someone has lived 30 years thinking God doesn't bless His children materially; it would hurt that person to bless them abundantly with material things because their heart hasn't been prepared to receive it. Everything we receive from God; we receive by faith. If our faith hasn't grown to believe certain things then we won't be able to handle the thing we don't have faith for.
Let me share another example; when I was ministering in a homeless community a couple of years ago, I met a woman who had been homeless for over 10 years. She lived outside in a tent, used park bathrooms to bathe, and walked every day to various shelters for food. I ran into her later and she told me that a woman of God offered her a place to live; a transition house for women. She accepted, and lived a new life of sleeping in a bed, eating regularly every day, and showering whenever she wanted. This only lasted a week before she asked if she could pitch her tent outside the house. When I asked her why she would want to do such a thing; she cried and told me that it was too much for her. She had become so used to living a certain way that her heart wasn't able to receive such a drastic change. As amazing as the change was, her heart couldn't handle it.
God knows some are ready for an instant miracle; others must go through a process of having their mind renewed, so that they're able to receive AND ENJOY what God has for them. Process doesn't have to take long, but your degree of progress will be in direct parallel to how willing you are to say yes to Him.
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