Recently life has been changing. My grandpa is extremely sick and through it I have found it hard to pray. Not such a good time to find it hard to pray, if you ask me. I find myself viewing things through a nurses eyes. That knowledge is not always good in these situations.
My church recently moved into our new building in order to seat our growing numbers. Our first message in the new building was called Dangerous Dreamers. A key quote the pastor used during his sermon was one from Robert Kennedy:
"Some see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not."
He continued on in the message about how we don't dare to ask God things because we assume He will do what He wants anyway. HELLO CONVICTION!! When he said, "Why DON'T we ask God to heal people?", i just stopped in my tracks. Why DON'T I do this? I fully believe God is capable of anything, so why can't I believe enough to pray for it. Why can't I throw away my human knowledge and pray for healing? I just wanted to cry out at that moment, "I DO believe; help me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24)
A couple days later, came across this random devotional in someone's bible i was borrowing for an afternoon reading.
He is Here--Anyway by Ruth Senter
God is everywhere present, so why am I surprised when I find Him in unexpected places? Royalty in a barn? Sovereignty riding a common colt through the streets of Jerusalem? Peace by the bedside of a friend's mother who is dying of leukemia? Expectations are disappointed. Plans are thwarted. I do not like what life does to people and plans.
But the very essence of God is that He is here anyway. No, the conditions are not right. But He is here--perhaps even more so because the conditions are not right. The conditions were not right when He came. There was no room in the inn. The conditions were not right when He died. They crucified Him with two criminals, one on each side. Not until He comes again will be conditions ever be right.
But the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. (John 1:14) It is the height of incongruity. It is in His humanity that we catch glimpses of Christ's divinity. The shepherds came to the stable and found a King. The people lined the streets of Jerusalem for a common colt and found the Messiah. So I must go through the death of a friend and know peace. For God often chooses to couch His lessons in places and situations that don't make sense. But He is God, and HE is there. I will find Him, if i will but look.
