Delays Are God's Appointment

Delays to our plans and prayers test our faith in God. Delays either will become stumbling blocks or building blocks to your faith. Your Heavenly Father lovingly and wisely has ordained these delays to strengthen your faith and to cast you upon Him rather than to destroy you. God delayed for years in giving to Abraham and Sarah their promised son, Isaac. God delayed the entrance of Israel into the promise land for 40 years, and how the patience of Moses was often tried during that time. God delayed giving David a permanent victory from the deadly pursuit of Saul and his army. Jesus delayed giving the apostles immediate escape from that fearful storm that threatened their lives. God delayed in giving the prodigal son a repentant heart and returning him back to his father. Are not delays to that for which you have earnestly prayed a huge test as to who it is in whom your trust is firmly placed (whether you have prayed to find a godly spouse, or to be healed, or a promotion at work, or the salvation of a loved one, or the return of a prodigal child, or reformation within your family, the church, or the nation)? Delays ultimately reveal who you believe is in control of your life and who is most wise and has the best plan for your life: you or your loving Savior (Romans 8:28)?
Let us consider today from our text the delay to the urgent plea of a desperate father on behalf of his dying daughter. The main points from our text this Lord's Day are the following: (1) The Evidence of Faith (Matthew 9:18-19); (2) The Delays That Test Faith (Matthew 9:20-22); and (3) The Reward of Faith (Matthew 9:23-26).