Understanding

How do we understand when God says wait?

There is a worship song that has the lyrics...
"He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name."

We want things so badly, we desperately plead with God for answers for understanding, for relief.  There are those moments when we get so excited, we get full of hope and we feel that our prayers have finally been answered; but then in the same breath the hope vanishes and the excitement fades as our answers disappear as quickly as they came.  My first thought in these moments is that I am being punished or that God is being tricky or crafty in playing with my emotions; but my faith requires me to dig deeper and to ask God the harder question of...."Why?"

My last blog was about God's blessings in bringing us comfort and peace, but this blog is directed at the feelings we have when we know God is in control but we don't understand how.  There are blessings God lavishes on us and then there are blessings that God is preparing for us, but that take time.  I know I often feel that if God is not lavishing blessings on me then He must have forgotten about me; but there is a feeling deep inside of me, a level of understanding only stirred by God Himself, that speaks to me and says..."For my ways are not your ways, nor are my thoughts your thought."

I don't know why an answered prayer sometimes gets pulled back up to Heaven but I choose to believe that it is because God has a better answer.  I do not believe that God disappears or that He turns His back on us, but instead I know that God gives us opportunities to grow our faith and to trust in Him so that the true answer to our prayers is not in circumstance but in how we handle circumstances to come.

I believe that all things work together for good when we have given our hearts and our souls to God, but I also believe that our ways are not God's ways and that our thoughts are not always His.

I pray that my heart will always choose to say...Blessed Be The Name, whether He gives or takes away.

The Blessings of God...

God's blessings have been amazing me lately, and not the grand answers to prayer but the gentle voice I hear day after day guiding me, encouraging me, and reminding me that He is there.  I always pray for things, I pray for relief from burdens and hardships, I pray for God to take away what hurts and what is difficult; but I am starting to realize that the true blessings are not in things, they are not in grand gestures.  The true blessing is in feeling God's presence, it is in feeling the warmth of His love, the power of His embrace.  The true blessing is in singing a song of praise and being moved to tears because you are overwhelmed with His strength, you feel His presence in your soul.  The true blessing is in feeling burdened by obstacles and fear and hearing God say to you, my strength is sufficient for you.  The true blessing is being in a new place and praying for comfort and hearing God say, I want to be your friend. 

I am amazed by all that God has been doing in my life, stirring in my soul, but I am most amazed that He has made himself known to me on an almost daily basis. I crave His presence, I crave His voice, I crave His visions for me, I crave to be in His loving arms, in His will--because no matter what may come against me, whatever may threaten me--my confidence comes from a strength not my own and I know that I can overcome.

There has been a specific burden I have been praying about for almost a year and a half.  It has at times felt like it threatened my future, my life, my hope.  I was in Church and trying desperately to find perspective, to be obedient and lay this fear at the feet of God, but sometimes when things are so close to your heart it is hard to find the strength to move them on your own. I had this crystal clear vision, that I can not doubt was God--There I stood, weary, and burdened by this hardship I continually choose to carry but then I saw God stand behind me with His hands just above my shoulders and the burden was there in His hands.  He lifted it off of me and held it for me.  Sometimes we can be obedient and lay our cares and concerns at His feet but then other times He meets us where we are and lifts our burdens for us and says, My power is sufficient for you.  I am amazed that God meets us right where we are, even when we are weak and untrusting--He comes to our rescue.

My prayer is that I will always view the Blessings of God in the relationship I have with Him.  I pray that I never take for granted His presence in the everyday moments of life, that I will always crave His voice in the quiet moments, and that no matter the outcome to my prayers, I will always remember that He holds all things in the power of His hands.

The Blessings of God are all around us.

Prayer

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

I can't help but wonder lately why sometimes the things we pray for seem to go unanswered, why when we pour out our hearts before God, He does not quickly answer.  There are so many verses in the bible that repeat the same pattern of "ask and you shall receive,"  and yet day after day my prayer remains the same.
I wonder how as Christians we should truely be praying.  I am often selfish in my prayers, pleading with God to take away difficulties, struggles, pains, and I wonder if my prayer life should instead be for understanding of God's good and perfect will.

Lately I've felt God remind me time and time again that "It's not always about you."  I think my unanswered prayers are a weakness in my own faith, I wonder often if I am keeping myself from the blessings of God, and yet I keep being reminded that God works for the good in ALL things.  My unanswered prayers could be God working in the hearts of others, of Him preparing  a way that goes beyond my greatest expectations, and of Him allowing the Holy Spirit to stir the hearts of those who have fallen away-- to be turned back through circumstances and situations that I continually pray for.  I often think my prayers go unheard, or unanswered, or that God has turned away from me and yet maybe I am in the very middle of His greatest mission of furthering His kingdom through my prayers and my circumstances.

Today I pray for a matter that has been close to my heart for many months and instead of praying for God to lift this burden and take away this hardship, I will instead pray that His will would be done in all matters concerning this issue and that His kingdom may be furthered greatly because of it.  I pray for a better understanding of trust in relying on God for all my needs and for patience in understanding that it's not always about me and that it is the hearts and souls of others that should be my primary focus. 

My prayer today is that you would reign over everything in my life Lord, that your great power may be evidenced in the circumstances that seem overwhelming and impossible.  Lord, I pray for Your will to be done and not my own.  I pray for a heart like Mary's Lord that is accepting of wherever you take me, through any and all circumstances, to greather further your kingdom, and be used by you in your great mission.

I know my prayer will be ansered today Lord, because I have confidence that All things work together for your good.