That's how I have been feeling these past few days.
It started with this amazing sermon at church on Sunday...
WAIT! Please, don't stop reading! I know it's easy to want to do the second somebody mentions church or religion or sermons. I know that sometimes it feels like sermons are too... Preachy. Yep, I said it! But please hang in for just a minute!
Sunday's sermon was about one of the biggest questions people ask of us believers: If God loves us, why does He let bad things happen?
So I pose this question to you: Have you ever read the Bible, or any portion of it? Even if you haven't, you've heard of how God had Moses lead His people out of Egypt right? Moses parts the Red Sea and then the Sea falls around the enemy army, drowning them.
God's promise was "I will bring you out of the desert and I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey..."
The funny thing is that He never did tell them exactly when He would plant them in the promised land. Want to know how long it took?
40. Years.
That's right. It wasn't immediate. It was far from!
That's just one example of many, but it's the easiest one to begin with.
We live in this world of instant gratification, where people can literally get their coffee in the way that they want, and it is supposed to be made in 3 minutes or less. Also, if you don't like it you can send it back and get an entirely new one at no charge! (Though you do have to wait a few more minutes for it to be made... And I bet you get a bit impatient waiting for it to be made right- right)?
So when people get hit with hard times or extremely sad circumstances they begin to pray. They ask God to take away the pain or illness or unfortunate events, and then they wait for His answer.
For about 24 hours.
Ok maybe I'm being dramatic. But it's true! When people don't get the miraculous healing akin to bringing Lazarus back to life they immediately assume that there is no God, that He doesn't care and He isn't listening.
So I ask you: IF you knew that it would be 40 years and then He would bring the redemption, would you wait? Would you continue to have faith? Would you walk each day with happiness knowing there was an end coming no matter how far out, or would you complain that it wasn't soon enough?
Do you believe in the power of prayer? And do you believe and know that it happens in His time and not ours?
We have moved away from praying and have stepped into wishing, looking for that magic lamp with a genie tucked in it waiting to answer our three wishes.
We know that wishes aren't real. We know that wishes are empty, meaningless, and we have no expectation for a return on it. They aren't even hopes or dreams; things that can come to fruition through our work and dedication the the goal. Wishes are just things we say with no expectation of fulfillment.
What about prayers?
Let me tell you this: the word of God does not return void. He has made you promises, He lists them out clearly in the Bible! He will bring you out of Egypt, and He will lead you to the land of milk and honey. Pray, believing you have already received it and it will be granted to you. He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you! He only asks that you have faith the size of a mustard seed, and that you let Him open those doors for you.
Stop wishing. Start praying.
