Yes, no, not now...

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

17. pray continually, 18. give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

This verse is the focus of the Awana lesson I'm giving this week.  It's amazing how God can speak to you through a child's lesson! 

 

"Pray Continually", as in don't stop.  When I read this verse I remember being younger, still living with my parents, and my mom begging me to just talk to her.  As I enter into being a parent of a teenagers I'm sure I'll be saying those same words to my children someday soon.  Like parents try to keep the lines of communication open with their children, our Heavenly Father wants to keep the lines of communication open with us.  He wants us to pray non-stop, about EVERYTHING.  He wants us to ask him for things, he's our Daddy. 

 

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Too often we mistake God for a genie who grants us wishes.  And while His word says that He will grant us the desires of our heart, our hearts must be in the right place, in line with His will.  We go to Him with all sorts of requests and desires and rejoice when we're giving what we ask for, but when we get a no, the rejoicing isn't always there.  We sometimes go crazy wondering "why did God stop listening to me?" We answer this this question with: "I must not have been good enough" or "I just didn't have enough faith."  and even sometimes, "He must not care enough".

Just like most earthly daddies, our Heavenly Daddy wants what's best for us!  He's not going to give us something that will hurt us or cause us to stumble.  Unlike us, God always sees the BIG picture and knows what's coming.  How awesome is that?  When He says no, although we may be disappointed,  that's reason enough to rejoice!  Because no matter how much we want what we ask for, what He has planned will be soooo much better.

Sometimes His answer isn't a "No" but a "Not Now"  We may not be ready for what we're asking for.  He has other things in mind for us before we're ready for what we want.  How much sweeter is that "Yes", after waiting and accepting His will?

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for wanting us to talk to You.  Thank You for wanting us to ask You for our desires, and thank You for loving us so much to say no when our desires are not right, or in line with Your will for us.  Please help us to remember that Your will is always best, even when we can't make sense of it right away.  In Your Sons Name we pray.  Amen.

 

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Missing Rings and Things and Stuff!

Monday morning I was at work, busy doing my normal routine, when I looked down at my left hand and my engagement and wedding rings were gone!  My heart stopped!  I had no memory of taking them off my finger and they fit snugly (which is how I like it) so the odds of them slipping off were pretty small.  In a panic I searched the small space where I work as thoroughly as I could with disappointing results. The rings weren't there.  This prompted me to call my husband, who works on the road and happened to be around the corner from our home,and beg him to stop at the house and see if they were anywhere there.  Because he's awesome he took an extremely early lunch (it was only 11:00 am) and went home to search but he didn't find them either.  They seemed to have vanished!  With a heavy heart I worked through the rest of my shift, and before I left asked the janitor to keep her eyes open for them and went on with my day the best I could.
 
I don't get attached to things easily.  I purge my house at least twice a month and if it hasn't been, worn, looked at, or used since the last purge it either goes in the trash or off to good will.  I'm not saying this is the best way to live, there have been many times I've torn through my closet looking for a shirt, only to have my husband or one of my kids remind me I had gotten rid of it the two months prior. I just don't put much importance on things.  I never really have, BUT (and that's a really BIG BUT) I was VERY attached to my rings.  I RARELY took them off and when I did they had a special spot I ALWAYS put them in.  The fact that they were gone broke my heart in a way I never experienced before.  I told myself they were just things, that my marriage was still solid without them. It didn't work. They were gone and I was sick over it.
 
My mom had asked me to run some errands for her that day and I went to her house after work trying to hide how upset I was.  I have a bad habit of keeping my emotions bottled up.  I don't like it to show when I'm upset, but she, being my mom, knew something was wrong almost immediately.  I told her my rings were gone and I had no idea where they were and how we had looked everywhere and we couldn't find them.  She threw the question out: "Did you pray?" Of course I had prayed! That had been the first thing I had done. Isn't prayer most often the thing we turn to when something goes wrong?  We rarely think to do it to just say thanks when things are going good. It's most often "God, thanks for that, now how about working on this?" 

Then in my mom's unbelievable wisdom she said something that stuck,"They may have been too important to you.  Ask Him why he allowed them to be taken from you."
 
Deciding to take her advice I did ask the Lord that, and oh boy did the Lord have an answer for me!  Over the weekend we had helped my aunt move.  She was moving into a cute little apartment, but unlike me, my aunt likes her stuff! lol  She's had to downgrade a lot over the past few years because of smaller living arrangements but as I was helping her unpack I was getting frustrated because there was still sooo much and just no where to put it all. I hate clutter and boxes. When I move, I'm moved in and 99% unpacked in the same day. I couldn't do that with her.  Her closets, shelves, and drawers were all full and there were still quite a few boxes to unpack. I tried to talk her into getting rid of more stuff but she didn't want to. When we had a hard time getting her kitchen table to fit, I tried to talk her into getting a smaller one, but no she wanted the too large one she has. I kept an encouraging smile on my face but inside I was burning with aggravation and yes I was even being a little judgemental of her.  I mean, come on!  They're just things and stuff!  How hard is it to replace or throw or give away?
 
Can you see how the Lord answered my prayer?  In taking away the only material possessions that mattered to me I was able to feel how my Aunt was feeling at the prospect of giving up more of the material things that matter to her. She had already given up so much and the idea of giving up more was breaking her heart the way my missing rings were breaking mine.  With this epiphany I repented and developed a new compassion for my aunt and her desire to keep what she has left. The Lord may move her to give up more to make her space more comfortable, but that will happen in His time, when she's ready.
 
Now, knowing why God allowed my rings to go missing didn't make me feel better.  My heart still ached.  Every time I felt my bare ring finger my breath would catch in my chest and I'd have to swallow back tears.  I know He used their disappearance to teach me a much needed lesson but know that I had learned my lesson couldn't He give them back?  Did they have to be gone for good?
 
After more desperate praying for them to reappear and searching in places they just shouldn't be.  I gave up and decided to accept Gods will.  I prayed and told Him that if my rings were going to be found then great but if it wasn't His will I would accept it but that I needed His help. I needed Him to heal my broken heart and wipe away my tears, like the scriptures promise: "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are ^[a]crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18) and that He will "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes..." (Revelations 21:4)  It's so hard to accept "No" as an answer to prayer and I really thought that was Gods answer to me finding my rings.  A very firm, but loving "No!" and I accepted (yes a bit grudgingly) what I thought was His will.

Cooking dinner tonight I FOUND MY RINGS!!!  :-D  They were in the most random place.  I was trying to use my food processor and I couldn't get the bowl part to sit right on the machine.  When I lifted it up my rings were looped around the metal part.  How did they get there?  I have no idea because I haven't even used my food processor in a few weeks. Frankly, I don't care how or why they were there I just praise God they were!  I truly believe He had a lesson to teach me and I had to accept that lesson and His will either way.  I wasn't happy about it but I think that was okay because I accepted it and looked to Him to move past it. Finding them, especially the way I found them just proves how merciful our God is! 

In church today my pastor read James 1:2 "Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy."  He pointed out this scripture says "WHEN" trouble comes your way not "IF"  We will have troubles come our way and how we handle them is a testimony of our integrity.  This amazed me (although knowing how our God works it shouldn't have) because God had showed me this during the trial with my missing rings.  Sometimes we are meant to struggle so He can teach us a lesson and refine us.  "For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." James 1:3-4  I lost my rings but I'm a better person because of that.  And Praise God, even though I didn't deserve them, He gave them back! 

Are you going through something?  Maybe as minor as my missing rings or something major like maybe you've lost your only source of income? Turn to Christ!  He really does comfort the brokenhearted and He will wipe away your tears.  Accept His will, because no matter what it's always better to be in His will then out of it.  A friend of mine once posted "To have God on our side doesn't mean sailing on a boat with no storms, it means having a boat that no storm can sink!"