We were hoping that it was He
who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third
day since these things happened. —Luke 24:21
{CHAMBERS} “[…] Lust means “I must have it at once.” Spiritual
lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who
gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today
“the third day” and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore
justified in being dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God
should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer.
[…] We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s
power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we
never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in
the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed
closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God
comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we
realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.”
{ELGIN} I know that I can be a bit wordy sometimes in these
devotions. But what I hope is that you
will find a nugget of encouragement or revelation that helps you in your
spiritual walk and understanding. It’s
like Chamber’s statement on the purpose of prayer … “that we get ahold of God,
not the answer.” When I read that I
thought of Jesus commitment to praying to the Father. I thought about James 4:2-3 “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Chambers brings James’ words into proper context. If we are praying for relief from whatever the
pressing problem might be … it can be like placing an order at a drive through
restaurant. And we want it “super-sized”. Instead, our focus should be on God who is
our source, our confidence, our peace and not simply relief from our trouble. We should draw close to Him through prayer
and trust that He loves us. We sing
about His love, but when it comes down to it … we often doubt that He is
listening or worse that He will do what is best … translated that means we
doubt that He will do what we want Him to do.
There is a worship song by Mercy Me “Even
If” that addresses this. “It only takes
a little faith to move a mountain. Good
thing, a little faith is all I have right now.”
“It's easy to sing When there's
nothing to bring me down. But what will I say When I'm held to the flame Like I
am right now. But God, when You choose To leave mountains unmovable Oh give me
the strength to be able to sing It is well with my soul” Have you ever been there? Are you there right now? Let me encourage you to draw close to
God. Life can be, and often is,
overwhelming … trust God and seek Him out.
Listen, this is supernatural stuff.
Beyond our earthly logic and doing .. but true nonetheless.
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