Look up to see what God is doing

January 13, 2024

Maria Anxiety, Colossians 4, Fear, Genesis 21, Hopelessness, Job 34, Joshua 5, Matthew 26, Numbers 22, Prayer, The Lord's Prayer, Watchman , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. Genesis 21:19 NIV

I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few days about how short-sighted I can be.  At times very inward-focused on troubling circumstances rather than considering God. Surely you and I are the same, each with both personal situations and an orbit of people and persistent problems or crises whose details trouble, frighten or seem to multiply.

Reading about Hagar’s situation when she was abruptly shoved out of the household of the richest man in the neighborhood, I thought about how she would have processed this sudden turn of events. She tumbled from a high-status position as the mother of Abraham’s first-born son, to being an outcast whose son, now a teenager, was going to die of thirst because they had run out of water. Looking horizontally at her circumstances, there was no way out.

But God! He spoke to her, painting a picture of the reality that he had planned, a staggeringly amazing future for Ishmael. Stunned and lightened by such hope-birthing words, she lifted her head to see beyond her immediate problem. That’s when she spotted the thirst-quenching, life-giving well.

Numerous examples of similar corrected vision dot the scriptures.

  • Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD. Numbers 22:31 NIV
  • Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua 5:13 NIV

So, what is it that has you feeling hopeless?  Maybe it’s the state of the world with irreconcilable wars and conflicts, or the politics of your nation that feel futile. Or maybe the rapid decline of morality in our cultures, even in some of our churches. 

For me, I carry concern over my mother-in-law’s physical decline and lack of happy anticipation of her future with Jesus. Friends in my Bible study carry heavy burdens regarding children and grandchildren and I pray for these needs. Yet, from a horizontal vista, in many of these situations, nothing encouraging ‘appears’ to be happening.

Right after I read about Hagar’s upward shift of vision, I picked up a devotional where I read Jesus’ words to his sleepy men at the Gethsemane Garden. He commanded them to ‘Watch and pray’. Immediately, I connected what Jesus counseled with the value of looking up.

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Matthew 26:41 NIV

I don’t think Jesus is warning his disciples about the temptation to fall asleep.  Rather because of Satan’s whispered doubts, they and we fall into discouragement, fear and anxiety.  We count the odds instead of counting on God.  But we are to be like watchmen on a castle’s ramparts looking for the help that has been promised.  And we are to pray. That is, to lay before the Savior of the world what we ‘see’ and then tell the truth of what God has done, is doing, can do and has promised to do. We can be like Job whose words in 34:32 go: ‘Show me what I do not see!’.  Then we can add, ‘Father, protect me AGAINST these temptations to doubt and worry.’

So, for the last few days, I’ve been repeating out loud several times a day ‘Watch and Pray’. I don’t want to miss what God is doing.

Apparently, the Spirit of God wants to make sure I get his message loud and clear. For, last night when I was thumbing through a book filled with liturgies for work (Every Moment Holy, Volume III, The Work of the People), I came across a margin reference to  Colossians 4:2, along with the words:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, (Berean Standard Bible)

Besides watching, praying and thanking God as he brings about solutions to our burdens, we are also to be alert, keeping a look out for his imminent arrival. It’s a true statement, ‘we are nearer today than we’ve ever been in history’.

So, pick up this short mantra for yourselves, Watch and pray, and fill yourself with real hope.  And pass it along to someone else whose eyes are downcast.

Is anything too unimportant to pray about?

July 15, 2023

Maria Answers to Prayer, Healing, Luke 13, Patience, Persistence, Prayer, Self-Righteouness , , 3 Comments

…..everyone who asks receives… Matthew 7:8 NASB

“Oh, I don’t want to bother God.  I’m sure he’s got more important things to worry about than my______!”

Have you ever met someone who takes this sort of pseudo-pious posture?

When I’m feeling sarcastic inside, I’d LIKE to retort, “Oh, you believe you don’t need God for this, that you can handle this issue yourself?”

But more often than not, I experience sadness for any such dear soul who doesn’t believe that our Father in heaven CARES about every detail of her life and mine.  Has she forgotten that He created her! We tend to love what we paint or fashion or bring order to.  Do you know many artisans, composers, painters, sculptors or gardeners who aren’t partial to what they’ve labored over in love?

I regularly find delight in praying about the ‘little’ matters.  (One pastor I’ve read recently commented that from God’s perspective, ALL our requests are little.) I am comforted that Mike, too, depends on God for the many details of each day.  From tech issues, to conversations with colleagues to untangling sticky issues with a customer service rep and even a foreseen lack of time. On this earth 1.0, a fundamental law of nature is ‘As is the day, so too are its challenges’.  But, the good news is that God promises strength and wisdom and sometimes even a way out for each obstacle that challenges us, IF we stop and ask him. Nary a day goes by that we don’t both experience God’s provision and answers.

For example, yesterday a replacement single Airpod arrived from Apple.  Mike has faced various issues with these Airpod Pros he bought a couple of years ago. Since I was away doing errands when the replacement arrived, he texted me for prayer because he couldn’t seem to pair this new device with his cell.

Immediately responding, I typed out and prayed that he would trust God to provide patience and wisdom to figure it out.  Within 5 minutes, he signaled his praise for God’s timely provision!

Later when I was home again, we talked about God’s rapid help, juxtaposing his speedy affirmative answer with those many as-yet-unanswered, ongoing and long-term AND daily pleas for relief, ways forward, healing, conversions, solutions etc.

My theory about these ‘little things’ is this: Our Father wants us to depend on him for all that concerns us in order to train us to count on him for each and every one of our daily ‘ordinaries’.  He grants many, many requests in order to prove that he always responds to our cries for his help. Training us to cast all our issues, the teeny and the major, is how he creates in us an automatic and trusting response to life’s bumps and sufferings. 

For an example of something very long term, consider the woman who suffered as an outcast for more than a decade due to her constant bleeding. Nevertheless, she received from God’s hand food, work and some kindnesses during those seemingly-interminable twelve years.

We all have our long-term versions of this single woman’s desire. For one more example, how about the crippled woman Jesus heals on a sabbath?

….should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free…… Luke 13:16 NIV

So, dear friends, as you carry a heart heavy for the ‘biggies’ such as the salvation of a family member, or healing, or reconciliation with a friend, remember to keep asking the Lord for every one of your ‘little’ needs. His answers will strengthen your faith as you persistently pray, without doubting.  Rest assured, that when God deems the time is right, he will provide.