though the time of her deliverance was not yet fully come.
She had been brought low, but her eyes were not yet opened to her
true needs, and she had not yet learned the prayer God would have
her offer, "Be merciful to me, a SINNER."

Children, when you pray, do not be discouraged, if God does not answer
you INSTANTLY. His way is not as our way; and though he hears us,
and means to answer us, he may see that we are not yet ready to receive
and appreciate the blessing we seek. Besides, there is no TIME with God
as we count time. WE reckon by days and weeks, by months and years,
but with him all is "one, eternal NOW;" and he goes steadily on,
executing his purposes of love and mercy, without regard to those
points and measures of time which seem so important to us.
We must remember, too, that it takes longer to do some things than others.
A praying woman whose faith was greatly tried, once asked her minister
what this verse meant,--Luke xviii. 8: "I tell you that he will
avenge them SPEEDILY." He replied, "If you make a loaf of bread
in ten minutes, you think you have done your work speedily.
Supposing a steam-engine is to be built. The pattern must be drafted,
the iron brought, the parts cast, fitted, polished, tried,--
it will take months to complete it, and then you may consider it
SPEEDILY executed. So, when we ask God to do something for us,
he may see a good deal of preparation to be necessary,--
obstacles are to be removed, stepping-stones to be laid,--
in the words of the Bible, the rough places are to be made plain,
and the crooked ways straight, before the way of the Lord is prepared,
and he can come directly with the thing we have asked."

It was thus with Tidy. She kept praying all the time to be free,
but the Lord, who meant to give her a larger and better freedom