For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25

 
The definition of faith is believing without seeing. Faith is another word for hope. The test of your faith and your hope is that when times get rough if you continually believe for deliverance from whatever ills you, your faith will remain strong. Think of it like having a broken arm. You know it will eventually heal and while it may be a pain, you know having it set in a cast will speed up the recovery so you patiently wait until the day when your cast is taken off. Faith is similar in that if you are broken or if things in your life aren't working out sometimes for a period you have to rely completely on God as your cast and remind yourself to wait patiently. 

When you truly begin to believe that the good things you are promised will come to you, the waiting patiently part will come easily. The times when your patience is tested is when the enemy is trying to put doubt into your life and make you question what your heart already knows is true: that God is faithful. If you simply wait on God he will give you what you need. You don't know the exact way you will receive or when but how can you have faith if you already know exactly what will happen? What is the surprise or blessing in that? If you already know what the outcome will be there is no point to have faith, there is no test of patience, and if there is no testing of your faith or your patience then there is no blessing received at the growth you experience through such trials. 

Trust in the Lord and he will surprise you. Praise him for the growth of your faith through trials and magnify his name when the blessings do come through. When you finally are able to put yourself aside and praise him during a trial and truly plant your faith in him, that is the moment when a blessing in itself comes through: that is the blessing of patience and the peace of truly believing that he will work it all out.

Dear Lord,

    We praise you for the trials that help us to grow. We pray that when we feel lost and broken that you will remind us how to plant our faith completely in you. We thank you for helping us to trust completely in you and pray you will help us decipher the lies of the enemy and hold onto our hope in you. We know you have great things in store for us so we wait patiently on you Lord, Amen.