God Is Sovereign

             

           Hugging my friend, I asked, “How is Alisha?”

            “She’s doing well,” my friend responded.  “Most days you’d never know she has ever been sick.  She goes to school, plays and has a very positive attitude.”

            “She’s so brave.” I said. 

            “Well, she is, but it’s pretty much all she knows.  She’s been fighting it so long, this is her normal.”

            Another family has been dealing with a similar circumstance: a child who is fighting cancer.  This little guy has spent most of four of his five years in a hospital, with the emphasis, on “in.”   Yet, he’s a very positive, busy, loving little boy.

We adults cry as our hearts break, praying, asking, “Why my child? When will it be over?” We scream it’s not fair, spend sleepless nights wondering if it was somehow our fault and worry if everything is going to be all right.

            Then we look at these courageous children.  As my friend described: they play, they love, and persevere, all with child like faith that everything is going to be just fine.  There are times when we find them consoling us.

            One young man I know is fighting heart disease.  His mother told him she’d very much like to make him well, if there was just something she could do.  His response:  “I don’t.  That’s not God’s design.  God is Sovereign.  There is a purpose behind everything that happens.  God is in control and I will trust Him.  If He wants to heal me, he will.   If not, then I will deal and wait to see what God wants me to do with my life, and serve Him, even as I wait.”  What an amazing perspective!  

            Still as parents we wonder, even as we try to give the fight to The Lord.  Why my child?  But then, why any child?  Why anyone?  Why do we have deal with sickness, pain, sadness, violence, brokenness, poverty, hunger, death or anything that is ugly?  Why?

            We live in a fallen world.  While we can’t always “fix” what is wrong, we have choices.  We choose how we respond to situations.  We can choose to be angry, place blame, ask why, and allow our lives to be filled with bitterness.  Or we can choose to respond like those two young children fighting cancer, and the young man with heart disease; with the belief they were put on this earth for a reason and rather than foster ugliness in their heart, project joy, acceptance, and a positive attitude.

           

            God promises to always be with us.  It doesn’t mean we won’t face trials and have problems, sometimes really big ones!  And we won’t always understand why.  It’s even safe to say we won’t usually know why, but we don’t have to.   

           God is Sovereign and knows the beginning from the end.  Our job isn’t “to know”….  It’s to trust and lean on a God who loves us so much, He sent Jesus.  When we lean on Him, we can experience comfort and peace which passes all understanding.

Does How We Pray Matter?

        

          There are those who I completely enjoy listening to, as they pray.  Their words seem poetic as they share their heart not only with God, but those around them.  Their sentences are grammatically correct, don’t seem to pause while they contemplate what they are going to say next and don’t stumble over their words. 

        Praying in front of others, I admit however, sometimes unnerves me.  I have fear of saying the wrong thing, stuttering, not using the correct grammar and the opposite of all those things others do right.

            Now, that said, when I am in prayer alone, it’s completely different.  I ramble.  I pour out my thoughts, not using complete sentences or even good grammar.  I tend to get excited when I’m sharing something that happened—(even though I know God already knows) and, as is normal for me, talk in fast forward. I’m a conversationalist, and that’s my private prayer life.  Sometimes I ask myself if this is wrong?  Am I being irreverent? 

            The question of “how to pray” has been around since Jesus’ time.  The disciples even asked Him how they should pray.  I was reading an article recently that addresses this idea. Instead of telling them to “chat,” (which is what I do much of the time), he was very specific in his guidelines teaching them “The Lord’s Prayer.” 

            The author says in his article that “every word matters,” right down to recognizing who it is we are talking with. ---Is my chattiness irreverent?  The idea of asking about our daily bread in “The Lord’s Prayer” indicates it should be a daily conversation; and Jesus' thoughts on forgiveness also give us indicators of the importance of this action.

             The author feels we neglect the importance of “Your kingdom come.”  We are to align our thought process with God.  Very often, we put the “I’ in front of God; “I want, I need, etc.”   I heard someone say once, “God is not a vending machine!”  I like this analogy.  Sometimes I think we ask God for things, and expect Him to give us what we want just like putting our money in the vending machine, pushing the “right buttons” and down drops whatever it was we paid for!  In “The Lord’s Prayer,” Jesus directs us to recognize Him, praise him (Hallowed by thy Name) and then submit to his will (Thy will be done) before moving on.

            As I read the article I had this sinking feeling, I must be doing it all wrong!  I do honor him at the beginning of my prayer.  As I list the many ways He is God from the Alpha and Omega to my Master; I believe it’s worship and praise.  I then share my thank you’s and there is always a long list, but as I reach that point, I get excited and share my heart in other ways.

            I have an image of Jesus, while on Earth, in conversation with God sharing about “stuff” that happened in his day.  Can you imagine Jesus when he communicated with God saying something like, “Wasn’t it just something today when….”   When I think this way, I wonder if maybe God approves of my chattiness since I'm pouring out my heart.  He is supposed to be our Best Friend.  Right???

            My point is this.  I know the author of the article was spot on about reverencing God in prayer.  I get that—and we must do that.  But I can’t help but wonder if God doesn’t also want us to be “real” with him, too.  We are to have a relationship with Him.  Doesn’t this include communication that is genuine, despite bad grammar, incomplete sentences and rambling?

            Thoughts?  Comments?  Please share!

Preparing My Field

           

          It’s a New Year, and like every year, I sit and re-evaluate my goals, plans and ideas for the coming year…..  and attempt to understand what held me back in given areas last year! With pen in hand and paper (or sometimes the computer) in front of me, I analyze the eight to ten categories in which I’d like to excel.  There are areas where I can indeed see progress. Others, well….  Not so much!

            It seems life takes on a spirit of its own, whether it’s a class in college, changing careers, moving to another part of the country, involvement in family life, health issues, or a hundred other things!   Each of these areas can be huge steps and cause us to be busier than we ever planned, and usurp time we’d planned for other areas.

Yet some areas like marriage or having children are enormous decisions, and steps in our lives that can be intimidating, especially if we aren’t ready for it. Of course, not all areas listed here affect me directly in this time in my life, but the premise is the same.  Whatever it is we do, we want to be successful! 

            A line in my favorite all time movie, “Facing The Giants,” “Prepare your field,” stuck me the first time I heard it and has reverberated in my brain ever since.  It’s easy to think of the farmer who readies his field for planting, well before the first seed is placed in the row.  But I wonder how much “ready-ing” we do for other areas of our lives? 

Certainly, many of us go to college, and take all the required courses in our field of interest.  Yet, often, when we graduate we are still at a loss about what to do next.  Even if a job is waiting for us, sometimes we flounder and change directions at least once and sometimes are still left unsatisfied with the direction our lives have taken.  Sometimes we just give up.  This leads us down roads we likely otherwise would not travel.

            We must have a vision if we are going to succeed.  That vision includes “preparing our field.”  When we put God first, pray for His will to become clearly apparent in our lives, we can move forward.  Like the farmer, we have to “till the ground.”  It takes some effort in preparation, whether its spiritual, physical, financial, or personal labor – and sometimes it’s all four!  Further we must plant the seeds, and again, this falls in several categories!  Life doesn’t “just happen.”  We make it happen! 

            When we have done our absolute best and all things we can do are in place, we must challenge ourselves to believe in God for the impossible to happen in our lives.  This is where faith, hope and love grow.

            I encourage (and challenge) you to consider the opportunities before you and further, decide if you are on the road you want to travel.  Is it time for preparing your field---including your area of spirituality? If so, are you ready to take the leap to the next level?