A snail retreating into its shell

Today I saw a picture of a snail, reminding me of an analogy I had heard years ago of our, as yet, unanswered prayers being likened to snails. The answers to our prayers, and God's promises that we are holding onto, may seem very slow in reaching us. As a result we can sometimes lose heart and stop believing - like a snail which stops walking and retreats fully into its shell. Instead, God wants us to trust in His ways and His timings towards the fulfillment of His promises, however slow the process seems. As Numbers 23:19 reassures us: "God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that he should change His mind ...". Also, the writer of Hebrews (10:23) reminds us, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful". We need to meditate on God's Word to know the promises He has given to us; then we are to hold on to His Word as true and never changing.