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Won’t God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won’t he be concerned for them? Luke 18:7 (CEV)
Someday, when this life on earth is over, I’ll cross over into the presence of my Lord Jesus. I don’t really know what awaits me or how it all works. I only know who will be there and that is enough for me.
When I get there, my plan is to spend the first 1-2 million years worshiping him at his feet. Gazing into those eyes of love I’ve waited to see for so long. Examining the scars on his hands and feet and the scar on his side, the very markings that made it possible for me to even enter his presence, much less spend eternity with him.
After those 1-2 million years are over, I’d like to ask him a few questions, respectfully of course and in extreme love. I want to ask Jesus why so many of us have prayed for healing only to see that healing come in the way of the grave, while other people pray for healing and see miraculous, unexplainable healing.
I want to ask him why some kids from very good families make choices that harm their family and themselves, while at the same time kids from very dysfunctional families make good choices that glorify God.
I want to ask him why so many women and children are abused when they are surrounded by loving, praying, caring friends. And why natural disasters and political upheavals and financial greed were allowed to run so rampantly when so many people prayed against it.
There are so many other questions I want to ask Jesus when I get there. Then again, maybe not. While I consider all the pain of my own life, the stupid choices I’ve made, the rebellious, selfish, harmful decisions that affected my life, I realize that in so many ways my prayers have been answered.
I don’t understand why things happen the way they do. I wish he would answer my prayers in my time and in my way. But his timing is always best. We see tragedies in life in need of ‘fixing’ for life to be complete. He sees opportunities in life to draw us closer to him. When the bad stuff happens we can choose to be angry (and miserable) or trusting (and at peace). His goal is for a life of peace in the midst of the struggles. His desire is for us to experience the forgiveness and freedom of grace.
Christian Author, Max Lucado says, in his book ‘A Gentle Thunder’, “Though you hear nothing he is speaking. Though you see nothing he is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to him.”
I may not understand why bad things happen in this world, but my trust is in the one who loves me and promises to meet my needs.
PRAYER: Father God, there are some many times that I am confused by what happens in life around me. Prayers seem to go unanswered. Relationships fail. Bills increase while income decreases. In the midst of all this, I trust your promises. Empower me to trust you for all my needs. Thank you for Jesus. I can’t wait to see him face to face. Amen.
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
On occasion I used to officiate sporting events. Yep, I was one of those dreaded guys in stripped shirts. Generally speaking you have to have a pretty solid view of yourself to don the stripes and whistle. You go into each event realizing that at least half of the people at the event could very well hate you before you leave.
An old joke among officials is that if you leave the event with EVERYONE mad at you, you have done a good job! You simply won’t make everyone happy in that situation. In fact, you may be praised one minute for making ‘a good call’ and lambasted the next for being a complete idiot.
The people in stripes, for the most part, enter into each event with the goal of keeping the event fair for everyone. Regardless of what we think, the vast majority of the time they have no ‘ax to grind’ as they enter the arena. However, they are human and will miss calls, make bad calls and like any of us, just plain blow the call. Expect it. They are human.
So what does all this have to do with ‘taking delight in the Lord?’ Too often, whether we want to admit it or not, we often see God as a ‘super-powered referee’. We expect that because He is God, and He is perfect, and He loves us and promises to take care of us, that the ‘call’ will always go our way. Life shows us that simply isn’t the case. Life is hard. Life deals us bad ‘cards’. Finances fail, relationships fail, health fails, we grow old. We make mistakes, we sin, we are abused.
The Psalmist encourages us to take delight in THE LORD, not necessarily in the things He allows to happen in our lives. The main difference between God and the people wearing the strips is that God can see ahead, is perfect and has our best interest in mind.
Taking delight in Him requires that we grow in relationship with Him, trust Him in every situation, and acknowledge that even when things don’t go our way, our Heavenly Father always knows what is best.
It’s an interesting phenomenon but people who take delight in the Lord can enjoy peace and contentment even in the toughest times. Don’t judge God on the things we see around us. Judge Him on who He is. His loves for you supersedes the tough times of life.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess to you that there are times when I don’t agree with the way things are going in my life. Some of my prayers seem unanswered. Others are answered but not in the way I asked. I get angry with you. I lose hope. When that happens the joy of relationship with You is tarnished. Forgive me for wanting my own way. Help me to trust You even during the times when You don’t answer me the way I want. In Jesus name, Amen.
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Acts 12:7
“I’ll pray for you.” We say it all the time, especially as believers. I remember when my son was only a few months old. He was very sick and the doctors in our small town couldn’t figure out what was wrong. We were referred to a doctor in a much larger city, very well-known for it’s medical expertise.
As we were making the preparations to go and word spread, many from our church called or stopped by to offer support and prayers. Some even prayed with us. The one comment that sticks in my mind the most was a dear lady where I worked. In a very sincere voice she said, “We’ll be thinking of you.”
The reason her comment has stayed with me all these years is because of how empty those words were. ‘Thinking of me? What good will that do?’ Of course I knew her heart and sincerity, but I was struck by the fact that our prayers are so much more than simply thinking sympathetic, heartfelt thoughts about something or someone. Prayer, whether spoken, written or simply thought in our minds, is a personal, intimate communication with the eternal, omnipotent, all-knowing God of love! What a privilege we have to approach Him in that way for ourselves and on the behalf of others.
The apostle Peter was taken prisoner and sentenced to death. The Bible gives us no indication that he was distraught about this, but it does give us a picture of God’s people in action. We don’t know the details, but at some point after his arrest a prayer meeting was held to pray for his deliverance. It was in the midst of that prayer meeting that an angel appeared to Peter. How many of us, if we were in prison and to be executed the next day, would have to be awakened from a deep sleep! Peter wasn’t worried. He knew that whatever happened, God’s will would be done.
Prayer works. Don’t think prayer doesn’t work when you don’t get the answers you want. Don’t think it a waste of time because no one will hear you. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the privilege, honor and responsibility to approach the very throne of God. Don’t take the matter of prayer lightly. When you say you will pray for someone, do it. Right then. Whether you are driving, walking, in a meeting or working, PRAY! You don’t know how much impact your prayer may have on the person(s) involved.
As a body of Christ we must always be ready to fight the enemy. Prayer is our major weapon of attack. It was no doubt the fact that Peter ‘knew’ his friend were praying that allowed him to sleep that night.
One more thought. Surround yourself with people who pray. ‘Thinking of others’ is a nice gesture, but thinking of someone doesn’t really do anyone any good. Your problems may not go away when you have friends praying but the burden will be lighter.
PRAYER: Holy God, I thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for the example of prayer in the life of the early church. Like Peter, I ask that I can have the faith to rest in the midst of despair because I know people are praying for me and your perfect will will be done. Help me to remember to pray for others and not treat it as merely a spiritual exercise. Help me to really believe that prayer works. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8
There are many times in the Bible when God closes doors. These are times when He shows His great strength and power. He ‘closed’ the gate to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned. And with that closing it was never to be entered again.
God closed the door on the Ark as the Great Flood began. It was a show of power, protection (for Noah and the animals) and finality. Life would never be the same again on planet earth.
There are other times when doors were closed symbolically to show that God’s timing was not yet complete. The Israelites were delayed from entering the Promised Land due to doubt. David was prevented from building the temple because the time was not yet right.
God closes doors for a reason. In each of our lives there are times when we pray, we plead, we earnestly seek God’s working in particular areas of our lives. It’s frustrating for us when the doors close in front of us. It can cause us to doubt, to become angry, or give up all together.
God also opens doors. When He opens a door there is no shutting it. The Pharisees tried to shut the door of the tomb where Jesus lay. But God opened that door with a thunderous earthquake and NO ONE could close it. Man can try to hold back God’s power but He will never be thwarted by man. God’s open doors are no match for man’s power. Ever.
In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John delivers a message to the churches around him. In each letter the message is basically the same. Clean up your act…or else. There’s one exception to that pattern and it’s seen in the letter to the church in Philadelphia. The church in Philadelphia is described by John as being a weak church. John says, in verse 8, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
The church in Philadelphia was given many opportunities that the other churches around her were not, yet, it appears she was the weakest of all the churches. There was one redeeming quality that brought blessing to the church in Philadelphia. In spite of her weakness she had remained true to her faith in Jesus Christ.
The same is true for each of us as we travel this journey called life. There are times when we feel weak. We look at where we are and where we’ve been and can feel like total failures. Hopelessness and despair can attack us and try to keep us from experiencing the joy of Jesus in our lives.
It’s during these times that each of us needs to look to the open door! In spite of our weakness, God has a multitude of opportunities and blessings for us to enjoy. And when God opens a door for us, there isn’t anyone who can slam it shut.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. Thank you for the message to the church of Philadelphia. Thank you that even in my weakness you have placed an open door of blessing and opportunity before me. Empower me with your Spirit to refuse to listen to the voices that tell me I’m a failure. Forgive me for the times I have failed and help me to walk boldly through the open doors you have set before me. Amen.
Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” Genesis 18:25 (NLT)
Even someone with the strongest faith has to admit at times that we wonder why God allows the righteous and innocent suffer. We are appalled when news reports tell of women and children being used as human shields by people at war. It seems even more appalling when God seems to condone this activity. Face it; if He is the Sovereign God we claim He is, He certainly should be able to protect the women and children of the world.
In our weaker moments we can understand why some people boldly proclaim that God doesn’t exist or, if He does, He’s completely lost control of the world and its events. An all-powerful God of love and justice would never allow these tragedies to happen.
Perhaps Abraham had the same thoughts going through his mind when he overheard God talking with the two visitors who accompanied Him on a visit to Abraham. That event, in and of itself is an amazing thing to think about. How would our lives be different is God visibly and personally visited us as He did Abraham on several occasions!
The visit in Genesis 18:25 may have been the most troubling however. As Abraham listens in, God and the other two men with Him (Jesus and the Holy Spirit?) were talking about the destruction of two cities that had become increasingly evil: Sodom and Gomorrah.
Normally, Abraham may not have really concerned himself with the topic. However, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom. Out of love and concern for his nephew Abraham dared to question God’s plans! He bargained with God: “If you find 50 righteous will you destroy the city? 25? 10? At each level God promised that if righteous people were found the city would be spared.
Sadly, that didn’t happen. The angels had to literally drag Lot, his wife and two daughters out of Sodom moments before the city was buried under burning sulfur. Even then, Lot’s wife perished when she looked back and was transformed into a pillar of salt.
Throughout our lives there will be events that will cause us to question why. Abraham’s conversation with God before Sodom was destroyed shows that we serve a God who is not unapproachable. Abraham argued with God over Sodom for the sake of his nephew and by doing so may have saved Lots life. During those times of struggle in our lives we need to remember that we can come to God and let all of our emotions out. He will listen to you in the midst of your struggles!
Each of us needs to realize that even though the actions God allows seem to be harsh now, His actions seek a better good. We can’t always understand why God acts the way He does. There are times when we need to just accept His actions based on our faith in Him. We see things in a finite way with a beginning and end. God sees things in relation to eternity. When calamity happens it falls upon the guilty and the innocent, the rich and the poor, the young and the old. But God is in control.
When you are in the midst of adversity, even those times when you don’t think you can go on, remember that God IS there. He is NOT silent. He DOES love you. Rely on Him for the strength to carry on especially when you don’t understand the ‘why?’
PRAYER: Holy Father. I confess to you that I don’t understand the way you work. I see so much pain in the lives of others. I’m going through emotional and physical pain myself. There are times when I doubt your existence and your concern. I ask that you would help me to be honest with you and with myself. Help me, in Jesus name, to seek understanding where I need to understand, and faith to trust you when there are no answers. I ask today that if my struggles are not going to leave, you would give me strength and comfort to endure. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 