Many times in life we can become impatient. We know that we only have a limited amount of time on this earth, and so we want things immediately. We struggle with waiting.

Certainly, the culture of instant gratification that has crept into the world does not help with this lack of patience that we have. We feel like we need everything right away, rather than being happy with what we have and having faith that what we desire will come in time.

I think something we really tend to wrestle with God on is timing. When we ask God for something, when we pray for something, we hope that He might respond immediately, or at least very soon after we make our petition. But oftentimes that doesn’t happen. Instead, we find ourselves being made to wait. Sometimes we will pray over and over again for something we would like, or a certain outcome we desire, and yet receive no indication that it will even come to pass.

This is because God does not work on our time. We work on His.

God’s timing is certainly something that can be difficult to understand. Sometimes we will find ourselves waiting for lengthy periods of time before we realise that He has answered our prayer. And this realisation may not come right away when the prayer is answered. It may take some time before we realise what God has done for us.

For example, there may be a time in your life where you find yourself really struggling. It might seem like the world is caving in on you. You lack motivation, your mental health has taken a significant hit, and you want nothing more than to find a shred of true happiness. You pray constantly for this, but the struggles you are facing persist.

While things may begin to get better over time, it is not until maybe two or three years later that you come to the realisation that God has actually answered your prayers from that period of darkness you faced. And that revelation can often come when you least expect it. For example, you might have just had a conversation with people you truly value, and, following this, when you are on your own again, it hits you – God brought these people into your life to answer that prayer you made three years ago when you were struggling to even accomplish anything meaningful.

God’s timing is perfect.

As a Catholic, I know how difficult it can be when God doesn’t seem to be answering your prayers. It can really test your faith. There have been times throughout my life that I have questioned God, when I have simply asked ‘Why?’ There are moments when you wonder if God is really listening, if He can really hear what you are saying, what you are asking, what you are pleading for. There might even be times when you wonder if it is even worth praying when your prayers seem to go unanswered.

I think that when we experience something difficult to deal with, most often a loss of some sort, we struggle to understand why God would allow this to happen to us. This struggle can be compounded if we have prayed for a different outcome, which we likely have done.

It is difficult for us as mere human beings to truly understand the will of God and His timing. We may never be able to truly comprehend the reasoning behind a loss we have faced, at least not until we meet God face-to-face. And yet, even then, we will be so enamored by His beauty that understanding the reasons behind the losses we faced in our earthly lives will no longer matter.

But while we are on this earth, we will inevitably continue to search for answers to these central questions of life. And so it is probably worthwhile to at least attempt to answer the question of loss and ‘unanswered’ prayers.

I think God allows us to experience such losses because He wants us to grow to love Him more. And yes, I know that sounds strange. Why would God want us to struggle if He wants us to love Him more? Won’t our struggles make it harder to love God, given He is allowing us to endure them?

In our limited human understanding of God, such a reason is difficult to comprehend. But I truly believe that this is what God is attempting to do by permitting us to endure difficult periods in our lives. Through our struggles, He is purifying us. He is allowing us to grow, deepening our faith and love for Him.

Because true happiness does not come without suffering.

All of this, the waiting, the suffering, and the cathartic moment of joy that follows, originates in the days of old. It dates back to the time of Abraham, with whom God made a covenant, promising him that he would be the father of many nations, and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the night sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Abraham and Sarah waited many years to have a child, each being put through trials of faith by God before they finally had a son in Isaac.

However, the waiting for the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham continued for a long time. The people of Israel waited for centuries for the promise to be fulfilled, and so it was when Jesus Christ came down from heaven and humbly assumed our own human form. But in order for the fulfillment of the Scriptures to come to pass, Christ had to suffer immensely, being imprisoned, scourged, crowned with thorns, and made to carry a heavy cross a great distance (estimated to be approximately 600 metres, including up steps and mountainous terrain) before being nailed to the cross and left to die.

At the time, Christ was not the only one who was suffering. His Mother, Mary, and His disciples were all struggling with the loss of their Son and friend. Even though the Blessed Mother knew that her Son was going to endure great suffering and death, it did not lessen the grief she felt upon seeing what was happening to Him.

Yet that suffering turned into great joy when Christ rose from the dead having conquered sin and death and winning for us the opportunity to spend eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven with Him.

Again, God’s timing was perfect.

The suffering we endure in our own lives is nothing compared to the suffering that Christ endured for us. But that does not mean that it is any less difficult to deal with. When we are going through such difficult times, we should do our best to continue to pray, to continue to talk to God, and to unite our suffering with Christ’s suffering on the Cross.

Eventually, in God’s time, we will experience that cathartic moment where we realise that He has been listening, and He has answered our prayers, just maybe not in the way we expected.

God is so good. His timing is perfect. And He truly loves us, even when we may not be able to see it.