God rises to act on our behalf and moves, unseen, until at last we understand His answer, which comes on His terms and not on our own.  And when deliverance seems so far off and so impossible, and the wait becomes unbearable, and our faith is tested beyond our human capacity, then He shows His hand.  It may be a whisper in our ear as the Word of God comes to mind.  It might be a glorious sunset that reminds us that God keeps the universe, not just in harmony and order, but in the staggering beauty of His artistry.  It is often in the gesture of a brother or sister who seems dispatched as an angel to keep us from falling.  And so we go from strength to strength, against all odds.  We again foil the enemy’s attempt to destroy us.  We stand in His strength, strength nourished by our joy in Him.  Then, when we are finally still standing after all manner of adversity, our inexplicable joy explains Him to a watching world.  The paradox of our frail invincibility proves Him to a skeptical world.  And our hope, now unshakable, and even unreasonable, is God’s gift of mercy to a hopeless world.