There are three answers to prayer: 1) Yes 2) No and 3) Wait. Right now the answer to my prayers are "wait". When you're waiting for answers that will determine your future, it can be very difficult. I was reading over past entries in my journal the other night, and I was surprised to read an entry from October that began much like the one I had just written. I was basically praying for the Lord to help me trust Him during this waiting time. I didn't realize it had been so long. I often go back to a quote for encouragement by Oswalt Chambers from "My Utmost For His Highest" that I wrote in my Bible:
"What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself...His purpose is for me to depend on Him and His power now... If we realize that moment by moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious."
So instead of feeling like I'm wasting my life while I wait for an answer, I'm resting in the fact that I'm actually obeying the Lord by waiting and trusting Him.
And just to refine me even more, another load gets thrown on the already heavy pile. I was telling Karla the other day that some people say that God will not give you more than you can handle. I completely disagree. God does give us more than we can handle, so we will give it to Him instead of trying to deal with it ourselves. In response, we will acknowlege His glory and in return glorify the Lord. If God does not give us more than we can handle, then why did He tell Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"? Paul's response? "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Like Fred Luter preached on Sunday, sometimes when our faith is attacked, fear sets in. But a friend reminded me of a verse in Mark 5:36. Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
So, I want to encourage you that if God gives you more than you can handle, then give it to Him. He can do a lot better job with it than we can! And if fear starts to creep in, "don't be afraid; just believe."
"Cast all your anxiety on HIM because HE cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7
1 comments:
I love this post Kelly... I think it is often in the times of "waiting" that God draws us closest to Him as He teaches to rely on Him to an even greater degree...
We will never get to the end of His sufficiency for our every need; but as we walk with Him we get to experience a deepening trust in His faithfulness in all circumstances!
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