You pray ... believing that the Lord is not only able to bring your deepest desires to fruition but also that He's willing to see the fulfillment of your heartfelt prayers. At the end of it all, songs of thanksgiving go up to the Throne Room like incense that engulf Him. It is then that you begin to realize that, indeed, your will mirrored His. And yet, if the truth be told, you must come to a new understanding ... for the journey that brought about these mirrored wills was nothing like YOU had planned. Nevertheless, within you there is a peace in knowing that His ways are not always your ways but without question HIS ways ARE always perfect.
Let me give you a recent example of this revelation in my own life ... last week, as many of you know, we endured a day long threat of tornadoes in our area. As soon as the predictions were announced my husband and I began to pray against them - directing them as the Lord allows, to go off their predicted path. Confident that we had taken the appropriate stand, we went about our normal routine throughout the evening never giving them a second thought ... that was until ... the phone rang.
It was my daughter. She was on the other side of town and every indication was that the storm was bearing down on her ... and that it was headed to our part of town with no less determination! Rain, thunder, lightning, violent winds ... and my 'child' was alone and frightened like never before!
How could this be!?!? - I had prayed that the storm wouldn't engulf us ... that ALL of my family would go unscathed by such violence! Shouts of anger went up and with ever increasing conviction I declared a safety zone around me ... around my property ... around my family ... and around my family's family!
The moments that followed brought torential rains that pelted everything in its path - the night instantly turned into day as the lightning flashed all around us - thunder roared like an attacking lion - and the winds, oh, the tremendous force of the winds ... so much so that some may say that my prayers were never heard - much less answered!
But wait ... as the winds subsided and the thunder rolled on out of our vicinity, we quickly realized that we, indeed, did endure the storm BUT we came through it without a blemish!! Power lines were in tact ... storm windows held ... a towel (without clothes pins) remained on the clothes line ... no injuries ... no damage ... no need to panic for our God WAS in control! Yes! Our prayers WERE answered!
OH, THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU LORD! THANK YOU JESUS! Songs of thanksgiving now pelted the air with no less ferver than the rain that had come down. Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!
WHAT! ... giving THANKS? Yes, for although MY plan was to totally avoid the entire storm ... the Lord used this time to show me just how much I needed to trust HIM ... how much I needed HIM! And in the end our wills were, indeed, mirrored! The Lord's plan was greater than mine ... for it brought about a much greater result than mine ever could have, leaving behind a richness in faith that I couldn't have foreseen!
As the evening turned into day I felt the the Lord was leading me to consider two words ... victor and victim ... and I was being asked which word I wanted to claim as my own. Which life did I want to live? As I took time to meditate on the reality of both, I soon ran headlong into the third word that the Lord laid on my heart ... and that was TRUST.
I am richer for this experience. I am no longer in the same place that I was before. I am one step closer to Him. Oh, Thank YOU, Lord!
My prayer, Father God, is that others may see the fruition of answered prayers, all the while being able to surrender to the beauty of Your plans. Being thankful seems trite as I come to an understanding of this event in my life but nonetheless I give You all praise and honor and glory as my heart swell with gratefulness. In and through Jesus, I give you my all.
Amen and amen.
Let me give you a recent example of this revelation in my own life ... last week, as many of you know, we endured a day long threat of tornadoes in our area. As soon as the predictions were announced my husband and I began to pray against them - directing them as the Lord allows, to go off their predicted path. Confident that we had taken the appropriate stand, we went about our normal routine throughout the evening never giving them a second thought ... that was until ... the phone rang.
It was my daughter. She was on the other side of town and every indication was that the storm was bearing down on her ... and that it was headed to our part of town with no less determination! Rain, thunder, lightning, violent winds ... and my 'child' was alone and frightened like never before!
How could this be!?!? - I had prayed that the storm wouldn't engulf us ... that ALL of my family would go unscathed by such violence! Shouts of anger went up and with ever increasing conviction I declared a safety zone around me ... around my property ... around my family ... and around my family's family!
The moments that followed brought torential rains that pelted everything in its path - the night instantly turned into day as the lightning flashed all around us - thunder roared like an attacking lion - and the winds, oh, the tremendous force of the winds ... so much so that some may say that my prayers were never heard - much less answered!
But wait ... as the winds subsided and the thunder rolled on out of our vicinity, we quickly realized that we, indeed, did endure the storm BUT we came through it without a blemish!! Power lines were in tact ... storm windows held ... a towel (without clothes pins) remained on the clothes line ... no injuries ... no damage ... no need to panic for our God WAS in control! Yes! Our prayers WERE answered!
OH, THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU LORD! THANK YOU JESUS! Songs of thanksgiving now pelted the air with no less ferver than the rain that had come down. Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!
WHAT! ... giving THANKS? Yes, for although MY plan was to totally avoid the entire storm ... the Lord used this time to show me just how much I needed to trust HIM ... how much I needed HIM! And in the end our wills were, indeed, mirrored! The Lord's plan was greater than mine ... for it brought about a much greater result than mine ever could have, leaving behind a richness in faith that I couldn't have foreseen!
As the evening turned into day I felt the the Lord was leading me to consider two words ... victor and victim ... and I was being asked which word I wanted to claim as my own. Which life did I want to live? As I took time to meditate on the reality of both, I soon ran headlong into the third word that the Lord laid on my heart ... and that was TRUST.
I am richer for this experience. I am no longer in the same place that I was before. I am one step closer to Him. Oh, Thank YOU, Lord!
My prayer, Father God, is that others may see the fruition of answered prayers, all the while being able to surrender to the beauty of Your plans. Being thankful seems trite as I come to an understanding of this event in my life but nonetheless I give You all praise and honor and glory as my heart swell with gratefulness. In and through Jesus, I give you my all.
Amen and amen.
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