I have one thing that I have prayed for fervently since the beginning of the year. God hasn't exactly said no, and sometimes I feel he has partially answered my prayer, in fact, as I look back, there has been a lot of ways I thought he said, "I'm working on it", but I am about to decide maybe he was really saying, "I'm working on YOU".
I am in the pit band for Lincoln Trail's Musical, Into The Woods. I had never seen the musical before I started working with the band, but as I watch rehearsals, there are some themes that are very clear. The main one being, "Be careful what you wish for". Sometimes, I think we need to be careful what we pray for too. I am not going to divulge what my prayer is for. It is personal, and it isn't for me, but it would (or so I think) have to go through me, for it to be answered. I think if I face facts, it would make ME feel better if it went through me, that is probably the truth of the matter. I have posted earlier that I thought I had seen the only way for God to do something and He showed me that He was in control and He would do things His way.
When I start dwelling on the fact that I don't think God has answered my prayer, I take myself back to Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." I have a habit of getting the "Trust in the Lord" part without remembering the "lean not unto thine own understanding" part. I have a tendency to trust in Him AND think I know what He is thinking. It is hard to put that down. So, I have found a couple more verses that I keep in my sight.
Psalms 31:1 says, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness."
Psalms 34:22 says, " The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate."
and
Psalms 37:3 says, " Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
So I need to remember that when I trust in God, he will take care of me, maybe not the way I think He should, but the way that is best for me.
I noticed this week that a friend of mine was praying for healing for another friend. That healing came in the form of the friend going home to be with her Lord. This is hard for us, because we see so many things that we felt like she had left to do here on earth. God is the one who is perfect though, and his ways are always right, so even though we suffer disappointments in His answer, we can't look at it as He let us down. Especially in this case, we have to glorify Him in what He actually did for that friend, she is in glory this morning, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
So, I keep trusting that His ways are perfect, and that He will answer my prayer in the way that is best for all involved. And yes, I will keep working on not asking Him to hurry up already, but I have to admit, I have begged that as well. I am thankful that He doesn't get upset with my tiny mind, when I get that way.
The takeaway this week is to remember He is in control, and if you are asking Him something that you truly think is something that could be his will, then keep asking. I believe He will eventually answer, OR show you it is time to quit asking. Don't decide on your own that He isn't listening, because deep down, you know He is.
The song I am leaving you with this morning is Lauren Daigle's I Will Trust In You. There is a funny story that goes right along with the devotional above. This song was released last year, but started getting more airplay the beginning of this year, honestly about the same time I started making this particular request. One Sunday morning, not too long ago, I had spent some extra time, asking God if I should quit asking. That particular Sunday morning, one of the girls at church sang this song as a special. I took it as a sign that my answer was no, I shouldn't quit asking. Then later that week, something happened out of the blue, that confirmed, I was getting answers.
I love when that happens. And though now that I am putting this out there, the girl singing the song, might find out that she sang that song for me that day. Until now, she has no idea but I know, knowing her, she knew she was being lead to sing it. God uses us, and is using us even when we don't know it. I am also going to let her in on a secret. At the beginning of the year, our pastor's wife gave us the opportunity to pick names out of a hat and pray for that person every day. I took three names. And I have prayed for those three people every day. She is one of my three people. I get to take a little bit of personal responsibility when things in her life fall into place. So I thought it only right that God would use her to speak to me.
So, here is Lauren Daigle's song: Trust in You.
As a bonus-- here is a link to an interview with her about this song. This made me love this song even more.
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