When you were a kid did you always get your way? Of course not. Because your parents knew what you needed better than you did, right? But, as a kid, it’s hard to understand that sometimes. We thought our parents were just being mean or that they didn't want us to have fun or that they were just trying to control us or something crazy like that.
But as we’ve gotten older and some of us have children of our own now, things are clearer. We understand why our parents didn't give us certain things or why they made us wait or why they didn’t allow us to go somewhere that we really wanted to go. We understand that it was because they loved us and they knew better than us.
It’s the same thing when it comes to God. We ask Him for certain things or we ask Him to change a particular situation and a lot of times the answer is no. Or wait. Or maybe it’s just what seems like deafening silence.
So what do we do? How do we react? Do we throw a fit like we did when we were kids and our parents didn’t give us what we wanted? Do we pout? Do we get angry? Or do we trust Him. Do we realize that He knows best and that He’s a good God- a God that loves us and that He isn't trying to hold back something from us? Because He’s got our best interest in mind- always.
In Mark 2 there’s a story about 4 men who carried their paralytic friend to a house to be healed by Jesus. There were so many people at the house when they got there that they had to go up on top of the roof, cut a hole in the roof and then they lowered their friend down with ropes placing him smack-dab in front of Jesus. But, after all the work of getting their friend there, they weren't expecting Jesus to do what he did. They weren't expecting Jesus to say, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” no! They were expecting Jesus to heal their friend. That’s why they went through all that trouble and why they did what they did. But Jesus, being God and knowing what their friend really needed, forgave his sins instead. Because that’s what was most important at the time.
Sure, he did eventually heal him too, but Jesus did what needed to be done first.
I truly believe that some of us are in the same situation right now. We’ve got pressing needs, big issues, overwhelming problems, huge decisions that need to be made- and we’ve prayed. We’ve asked God to intervene and to change whatever it is that we need changed. We’ve asked Him to give us _____________ because it would make our lives so much better. We’ve been trusting Him to _______________ and it seems like He’s not listening.
But just like the situation with the paralytic… "Jesus doesn’t always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.”
So, if you’re struggling right now because it seems like God isn't listening. Or if you’re frustrated because God isn't answering your prayers fast enough or in the way that you think He should- just relax. Take a deep breath and trust. Rest in Him and in His goodness as ‘a Father.’ It’s gonna be OK: )
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Jesus- in Matthew 7:7-11
Love Ya,
JIm
