I've been reminded lately how different head knowledge is from heart knowledge. It is so easy to KNOW the characteristics of God. But where is faith in knowledge? Everyone KNOWS there is a God (Romans 1). It's not enough to simply know. Faith is believing and trusting and practicing that knowledge!
I've been convicted a lot about this in my own life recently. When rubber meets the road and it's time to believe that God's plans and timing are better than mine, I find myself struggling. I KNOW His plans are better than mine, but when I see myself becoming discouraged over His timing, I'm humbled to see that I'm not truly BELIEVING it by practicing it. I have to ask myself, "When has God ever been unfaithful?" Never! He's blessed me beyond anything I could ever deserve. I have salvation through His Son, and therefore I possess everything!
I had to remind myself today that God is in fact hearing my prayers. I feel like I’ve spent the last 5 months praying the same thing daily. And what I have to tell myself is that it's not that He isn’t hearing my prayers. It isn’t that He is choosing to give me no answer to these prayers. He answers each one of my prayers. His answer has simply been no. What looks like no answer or indifference is in fact just my faulty perception of how He is answering my prayers. It’s not the answer that I want and so I perceive it as an unanswered prayer. But no prayer has ever gone unanswered. He is faithful. I need to praise Him when his answer to me is no or not yet. I need to see AND believe that His answers are perfect and timely. It doesn't mean that His answer will always be no. But today it is. And that's good.
Anyways, I'm thankful for moments when I feel helpless. It humbles me and gives me a better perspective of myself. I need to decrease so He can increase. This life is not about me. It isn't about my wants. It isn't about my plans. It's about Him. When I remember these things, I feel such peace. My anxiety goes away and I'm content. He is SO good. I'm blown away with His willingness to shower grace and love on me. It's an undeserved blessing. His plans truly are good and His timing really is perfect. And when I step outside of myself, it's so much easier to practice that knowledge and believe it. :)
I'm so blessed with my little family! So thankful for them!
Beautifully written! :) amen!
ReplyDeleteGreat insight Steph! I know what you are talking about and I often feel like I have the same reaction Ember has when told "no" to something I want. I don't like it when she throws a fit but then I often do the same thing to God closing a door. Good reminder. I appreciated your post very much! Thank you for taking the time to write it :)
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