What an awesome God I serve!

Today’s post is personal, but I pray it’s a blessing and a reminder you can glean from in your life, as well!

Sometimes we put God in a box. In one way, we carry him around, bringing him out when it’s easy or convenient, and keeping the lid tight on our Christianity when “we need to be quiet”. But another, equally sad way we put him in a box, is by placing our human expectations on him. Then when those expectations aren’t met, we feel disappointed. We think God must not have heard our prayers, or that he doesn’t want to answer them. But he doesn’t operate on our time schedule. His will and ways are greater than ours.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Ephesians 3:20

My “unboxing” experience…

You see, last week was Church camp week for our children. Our 7 year old “E4” hadn’t accepted Christ as her savior yet. So my fervent prayer leading up to and through the week of camp was for her to be saved. I prayed multiple times a day, truly believing that it would happen. The phone rang twice with calls from camp counselors while they were at camp, and both times I got excited. I knew E4 was calling to tell me she accepted the Lord as her savior. It didn’t happen. The kiddos came home from camp on Friday, and life resumed at its normal hectic pace. I quit praying about her salvation. The sad truth was, for whatever reason it didn’t cross my mind for a few days to even pray about it again. Perhaps I was disappointed. Maybe I felt let down. God didn’t do the one thing I truly expected Him to do, in the time frame I placed on Him to do it. (I didn’t realize this at the time, but hindsight is 20/20.)

On Monday night, as I stood in our kitchen preparing to cook supper, I prayed for a friend of mine’s daughter who is going through a battle in her life. The children were playing cards in the play room, and Wilson and E1 would be home from work soon. Just a normal evening around our house. Probably 10 minutes after I finished praying for my friend’s daughter, E4 came up to me in the kitchen. She wanted to know what she had to do to be saved. She said she wanted to do it at camp, but it just felt weird with everyone around, so she wanted me to show her. I took my Bible, tried to walk calmly (not run) to my bedroom with her, and was able to lead her to Christ. She understood everything perfectly. She wasn’t confused, and even explained everything to ME in a way that could lead someone else to the Lord! My heart overflowed.

It wasn’t until later that I realized…

God answered my prayers. He saved my little girl. It wasn’t at camp, but even more of a blessing – I was able to be there, and show her myself. How foolish I was to stop praying this would happen. How silly I was to feel disappointed when she came home Friday without being saved. And then the thought hit me…

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10

While I was praying for my friend’s daughter, the Holy Spirit was working on my little girl’s heart. While she played cards with her brothers.

Friends… don’t stop praying. Pray for your friends, too! God likes that. But don’t box God in, and set expectations of an earthly level. It may take weeks, months, or even years to see an answer to your prayers. But think about this: when God answers prayers, he often does it exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we asked him to. (Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to come heal Lazarus, but were disappointed when Jesus didn’t show up “on time”. However, Jesus ended up bringing Lazarus back from the dead. An even bigger miracle than they expected.)

Four out of five of my children now profess to be saved. What a blessing! And they each had unique experiences. I’m praying once old enough to understand, the 5th one will have just as wonderful a salvation story to tell one day. What are you praying for today?

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9