October 24, 2018
Hi friends, today I want to share what’s been on my mind. I’m sure you can relate. There are some days where I don’t feel like God is going to answer my prayers. That’s when I have to choose to live by faith and not my feelings/sight. It can be hard to do. It was harder two months ago than it is now, but even now some days are better than others. Does that make sense? Sometimes it seems strange that I have more faith now that I’ve waited longer for God to answer my prayers than if He would have already answered them. What I do know is that God has really done a work in me in the past three months – more than I could have ever imagined. He has taught me about His promises and having faith in Him.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:6-7, “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.” (NIV).
I like the way the Amplified Bible puts it though, “So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]” (AMP).
Sometimes we have to look back on our lives and remember how God has already been faithful to us. If you’re a new believer or can’t think of any times, then I encourage you to seek out someone of Christian faith and ask them to tell you a time that God was faithful to them. Sometimes it can be in the littlest way that God has shown Himself to be faithful. For other people it may be something big. For me, I’ve seen both in my life. Still, I have to remind myself of His faithfulness when I feel like God is silent or not moving.
God is ALWAYS moving in the background. There may be situations in which we never know on this side of heaven just how He is moving; we may only see the outcome. Now and then I get a glimpse of how He is moving or how I think He is moving. I know there have been times, even some recently, where I didn’t understand why God did what He did – but then I realized that He showed me something to just let me know that He is able. And, if he can do something once, He can do it again. Nothing is too big or too small for God!
I’d like to share a few more passages with you.
Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (NIV).
When you’re dismayed it’s easy to fall into your feelings and not live by faith. It’s easy to give into the feeling of being hopeless or like our prayers are useless. But, God clearly tell us that He will strengthen us and be our Helper. We have to pray and ask Him to strengthen us. God has been faithful to me in this aspect. Again, there are some days that are easier than others, but we can’t overlook God’s faithfulness in both the big and small ways. Depending on your situation, just getting through the day can be something big or small.
Luke 18 is the parable of the persistent widow. However, the first verse of the chapter can be easy to overlook. I read the parable a few times before I even really noticed the first verse. I read it like an introduction that lead into the words in red and didn’t give it much thought. But, we have to remember that ALL of the words of the Bible are inspired by the Holy Spirit and that they all have meaning! For those who get tripped up on different translations of the Bible and wonder if all parts really do mean something, just remember that it has been translated from the original text of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic to the best used/similiar words that we are familiar with today.
Luke 18:1 says (in black), “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (NIV).
Clearly when someone wants to give up they are not feeling encouraged or like their prayers are going to be answered. God is telling us to keep praying despite our feelings and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Sometimes we may not always get the answer that we want, but God will always give us an answer. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but God’s answers us with either a, “yes,” “no,” or “not yet.” I know that sometimes God’s answers can be disappointing, hurtful, or confusing, but we have to trust Him along the way. I don’t understand why God answers some prayers and not others, especially when it comes to tragedies. I only know that God always has a purpose. Either way, He has told us to “always pray and not give up.”
I also want to share Proverbs 3:5-6. It tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV). To “lean not on our own understanding” is another way of God telling us to not let our feelings guide us and to instead let our faith (God) be our guide. I know that I’ve thought plenty of times, “God, I don’t understand what’s going on here. What are you doing?!” I can now look back and understand some of those times and say, “Thank you, God!” He has protected me from things/situations that I wanted and later shown me why they didn’t happen and/or given me something better!
God gives us encouragement to get through the hard times though. In Isaiah 40:31 we’re told, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV). It doesn’t tell us that we’ll always feel good. It just says that He will renew our strength and that we will not grow weary.
Have you ever done/gone through something and while you’re going through it you think/feel like you can’t do it, but then you actually do get through it? I’ve had this happen emotionally and physically.
Going through my divorce was like running an emotional marathon – one where some days I felt like someone had beaten me with a baseball bat. It hurt so much at times (especially in the beginning) that I sometimes wondered if I was ever going to get through it. I couldn’t think about what the next day might hold. It was too overwhelming. At times I couldn’t even think about the next hour – I could only think about getting through the next few minutes, which would turn into the next few hours, days, weeks, etc.
But, something more tangible for me was running a 5K – not an official race, just being able to do it. My neighbor and I did the couch to 5K workout and there were times during that 5K that I wondered how much longer I had to go and if I could make it until the end. The thing is, there were times that I didn’t know how much longer we had to run. My neighbor was the one keeping track of the distance. I literally was just putting one foot in of the other and only looking at the next 10 feet in front of me. And you know what… doing that long enough got me through until the end. Ha ha!
There’s irony in that because I’m currently doing that right now while waiting for God to answer my prayers! I have no idea when God will give me my answer… only that His current answer is, “Wait.” He’s also been speaking to me about relying on my faith and not my feelings. I mean, what if I’m about to give up on my proverbial 5K prayer? What if I’m at the 4K mark and God is about to answer my prayers but I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other?!
Friend, I had no idea how this topic was going to come out when I sat down to write. I just sat down and started typing; and, I didn’t have an end in mind. But, I think I’ll leave it at that. Don’t allow your feelings to sway your faith. God is faithful and you never know if you’re at the 4K mark – the end might be in sight before you know it.
God Bless,
Penelope G.