Category Archives: God’s plans for us

Overpowered

Posted on by

With all the strife and struggle in our headlines these days, we can listen to news reports and quickly feel overwhelmed. None of us can fix all that’s wrong, and there’s frustration in realizing that.

This morning I felt the same crushing helplessness during my prayer time.

Sitting down with God in the corner of my bedroom each day, I put several things on my lap: a clipboard filled with blank paper, an array of scribbled post-it notes in all colors and sizes (prayer requests), a pen, pages of Scripture verses grouped by topic, and my daily devotional book by Charles Spurgeon. A cup of coffee is within reach, and maybe a rice cake with peanut butter on it, at least briefly.

As I start praying, it always impacts me that God is willing to listen and, more astoundingly, to answer prayers. But something else is always present, too. It’s a determination to “do business with God” over my own sin. He never fails to let me know what needs purging and deals with me accordingly. Sometimes the whole hour is spent on that. But most mornings there’s time to sort through the post-its and pray a wide variety of requests over the names and needs on them.

This morning was that kind of prayer time, and I looked forward to claiming biblical promises over the various needs, and listening for God’s directions on how to pray. But something unexpected happened right after I got started.

Reading the serious nature of the requests on the notes, one after another, began to swamp me. Each tiny piece of paper held weighty problems seemingly much too heavy for it, and as I handled the notes, their burdens jumped off the papers and onto me. Trying to prioritize them, my mind swirled like it was in a hurricane of sorrow. Just like with the turbulence in our headlines, I knew I couldn’t fix anything on those notes.

I started to cry, wishing I hadn’t put my mascara on before sitting down to pray. Using the paper napkin that had been under my rice cake, I began dabbing at tears until it was soaked, and then just let the other tears fall. What was happening? I’d prayed for many of these same people in their same dilemmas on multiple occasions in the past without “losing it.”

What had happened to my confidence in God’s ability to do what I couldn’t? Was I doubting he could affect change in the lives of the people I was praying for? Had I forgotten that it was God’s job to “fix” things, not mine?

But God was, as always, up to something completely different than what I thought. And he used a 65 year old photo to let me know what it was.

(Concluded tomorrow)

“God does great things beyond searching out. Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ ” (Job 9:10,12)

Try to bloom.

Posted on by

Spring, not autumn, is the season for fresh flowers, and we love gathering crocus, lily of the valley, and jonquils into our homes. Fall, on the other hand, is about readying our gardens for winter. Though colored leaves can be striking, fresh flowers are hard to come by…

…unless you live in my neighborhood.

As Jack and I strolled around the block last week, we found a spring-like surprise: brand new blossoms in dramatic purple, pushing up from a tangle of ivy roots and stems. Looking more like Easter than Columbus Day, they made me stop to oooh and ahhh, and I’ve been thinking about them ever since.

All of us have heard the expression, “Bloom where you’re planted,” which is exactly what these flowers are doing. Though that quote isn’t from Scripture, its principle is. No matter what snarling circumstances surround us, God wants each of us to accept our lot in life, or, put more eloquently, to embrace his will.

What if he decides that an extreme hardship is what we need to turn our attention to him? Wouldn’t that “misfortune,” then, be in our best interest? That kind of logic makes us squirm. “It’s not fair!” we say.

All of us want to live on Easy Street. Something deep inside says we deserve that. So why doesn’t God make it happen? If he can do anything, then why doesn’t he choose to make us happy?

  • Because each difficulty coaxes us closer to him.
  • Because we can demonstrate his sustenance through troubles.
  • Because by cheerfully enduring, we can bank rewards for later.
  • Because flexing our perseverance-muscles makes us stronger for next time.
  • Because living above circumstances is the high-road way to live.
  • Because God has told us, “In this, you can please me.”

In other words, the Lord assigns certain hardships to each of us and is keenly interested in how we’ll handle them. When we bloom in the middle of those messes, whether it’s poverty, terminal illness, financial stress, or something else, the beauty and perfume of the resulting flowers can impact many, much like the purple “Resurrection Lily” (or “Surprise Lily”) impacted me. When we’re joyful through suffering, it surprises people.

But there’s a catch. We can’t do it on our own. Cheerfully accepting a “fate” that seems unfair makes our mental scales-of-justice tip. More natural is to run from it, fight it, or try to escape it altogether. From where God sits, however, those reactions go down as losses.

So, to encourage us to bloom against all odds exactly where he plants us, the Lord has told us that one day every believer will indeed have an address on Easy Street. And I’ll bet the blossoms in those yards are going to be out of this world.

“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you.” (Romans 12:2)

Lest You Fall

Posted on by

Psalm 91 includes an interesting promise about God’s care. He says he’ll command his angels to protect us from danger to the point of making sure we don’t even stub a toe on a stone. (vv. 11-12) Taking this literally as a child, I figured invisible angels would make sure I never got hurt.

But experience said otherwise. I got hurt lots while growing up, and never once saw an angel, much less felt one rescue me. So what could those verses mean?

As I’ve gotten to know the Lord over the years, I’ve seen how occasionally he allows hurtful experiences and at other times shields us from them. Our frustration comes in not knowing when he’ll do which. But rather than questioning the when, where, or why of his rescues, we should thank him for the “saves” we recognize as his doing.

Recently I learned of a spectacular one.

Hans and Katy had been entertaining another couple in their home, and after putting the 3 children to bed upstairs, the four adults were enjoying quiet conversation. Suddenly a neighbor from across the street ran into their front yard, visible from the living room window. He was waving his arms, shouting, and pointing to the second story.

“Something must be wrong upstairs,” Hans said, and bolted for the steps. Bursting into the children’s bedroom, he saw 2 year old Evelyn kneeling on the window sill with her hand on the wide-open swing-style window, leaning out (no screens). The neighbor, having just pulled into his driveway, had seen the situation and come running, not knowing if he should head for the front door or stay below the window in case Evelyn fell out.

Hans grabbed Evelyn from behind, preventing a fall to the pavement below and a sure death. “But,” Hans concluded as he told me the story, “she didn’t fall, Mom, and everything’s fine.”

After we said goodbye, I began to tremble all over, visualizing that precious child hitting the ground in a terrible accident. It wouldn’t only have altered her life but the rest of ours as well.

“Lord!” I cried. “How could you let her get on that window sill and open the window? It could have been a disaster!”

But God quickly chided me. “Who do you think arranged for the neighbor to arrive home just then? Who do you think had Hans and Katy facing the front window when he came running? Who do you think kept Evelyn anchored to the sill till her daddy reached her?”

Of course it was him, saving her from dashing her foot and the rest of her against the stones below. And suddenly I was ashamed of my accusations.

Within hours new key-locks had been installed on the windows, and Hans’ family was praising God for his rescue. As for me, after that initial dip, I could praise him, too.

“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways… lest you strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12)