GOD’S TIME

AFTER SPENDING FOUR DAYS at a conference full of ideas, imagine my surprise when, after returning to my dear home and my own dear bed, the first thing I read about was slowing down to leave room for God.

EACH MORNING BEFORE ATTENDING MEETINGS, my husband and I prayed our special Lenten prayers, including one for our little company and our well-loved employees. That done, we raced to the breakfast gathering. Ideas for improving our business came at us at warp speed. I could almost hear a sonic boom.

BY THE LAST DAY, I found myself working out the initial steps in a business plan. In the weeks before the meeting I had felt helpless to make a difference in the shortfalls that seemed to have plagued us for nearly a year, and after only three days I had awakened far too early in an effort to capture these new ideas before they fled. That’s how prayer is sometimes—a little dangerous.

AND THEN, ARRIVING HOME, I hear an unmistakable voice: “Leave time for God.” It’s the best advice I received all week.

PRAYER—that moment when I am aware of accompanying God on His journey—refreshes me, keeps me ready for the challenge. Even though I only allow cancer the backseat in my life, it’s enough of a presence to remind me that each day is a gift . . . a new beginning . . . and one I’m lucky to have.

THERE MAY COME A DAY WHEN CANCER DEMANDS and gets the driver’s seat, and I must be prepared to make my way to my true home. Prayer is how I do that.

SO, NO MATTER HOW THRILLING NEW IDEAS may be, no matter how demanding the business plan may become, I will leave time for God. Because I know that my time in this life is just rehearsal for my time in the next.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

GOD'S TONIC

THE OTHER DAY I read again about using “A-C-T-S” as a guideline for prayer:

A for ADORATION—a means of reminding myself who God is and who I’m not;
C for CONTRITION—which I think of as confession with a desire for improvement and the acceptance of forgiveness;
T for THANKSGIVING—for me that’s the ever faithful gratitude attitude;
S for SUPPLICATION—meaning I don’t know what Your plan is, Lord, but I’d like to tell you mine.

I SEEM TO HAVE LESS DIFFICULTY with adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication than I do with contrition. I just can’t seem to put aside my failures. I seem to need to punish myself for what I’ve done that I wish I hadn’t and for what I haven’t done that I wish I had.

GIVEN WHAT I’VE READ in the New Testament about the promise of absolute forgiveness, these failings seem far more important to me than they are to God.

I AM REMINDED of the story about a man who heard God’s voice.
“How do I know you’re God?” the man asked.
“Ask me a question only I would know the answer to.”
“Okay. Tell me how I sinned day before yesterday,” the man said.
God replied, “I don’t remember.”

THAT’S HOW IT IS. God forgives me. He moves on and I waste time cycling back through the sin. Do I doubt the promises?

HOW WOULD MY LIFE CHANGE if I dared to live it forgiven?

I THINK I KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. I waste a lot of energy to “unforgiveness.” I waste a lot of energy refusing His tonic. Confession is like putting the garbage out to be collected. All I have to do is hand it over. Once I do, I’m lighter. I have more energy. I’m ready for His plan and eager to be a part of it.

AND I HAVE PEACE.

THAT ALONE is worth striving a little harder for.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

WE HAVE A ROLE.

GOD MAY CHANGE HIS MIND AT TIMES, but one thing that never changes is His love for us. We may look in a three-way mirror and be disappointed by the reflection, but God sees someone He adores.

THAT BEARS REPEATING. Each of us is God’s favorite. He loves each of us as though we were his only child. Unbound by time, He gives us His undivided attention all day long.

HE CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE WITH A JOB IN MIND. Even before the fall, Adam had his work cut out. We are aides and assistants in accomplishing His plan. C. S. Lewis explained that it is as if God were a playwright who left the minor roles up to the actors themselves. And we fumble around with our parts, messing them up and trying His patience. We’re like a kid with training wheels, even when we say yes to what God asks of us.

I ONCE SEARCHED FOR MY CALLING. What is it I was supposed to do, I wondered. And while I tried to figure it out, I was miserable. And not very useful. But, when I accepted that God has chosen what He wants me to do, I realized all I have to do is show up and be willing. He’ll point it out soon enough.

I DON’T WORRY. God will make use of what happens. I want to be a part of what He has planned, and I can’t do that when my own agenda seems more important.

AS FRUSTRATING AS MY DECISION to “just show up” has been at times, I have been amazed at what I’ve managed to attend to. (Not alone, of course.) Looking back for a moment, I have a sense of accomplishment and joy—even when my own TO DO LIST has a few items left on it.

AND IN MY TYPE-A rushing-around-to-get-everything-done past, I missed out on that feeling altogether.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

ANYBODY THERE?

FOR ME, ONE OF THE BIGGEST BARRIERS TO FAITH is the unanswered prayer. My husband tells me all prayers are answered, but, he adds, sometimes the answer is one I don’t like—NO. While he may be right, there are some times when I’m tempted to ask if anyone’s there. That’s one of the difficulties of believing in a God I can’t see.

I’VE READ TOO that part of my problem may be that I haven’t learned to align my desires with those of God. If that’s the case, I don’t need to wonder whose desire will be honored.

IN MATTHEW 18:19, Jesus told the apostles that whatever two or three of them asked for in His name would be granted by his Father in heaven. Considering the saintly lives the apostles lived afterwards, that makes sense. If I expect to get the prayer results they were promised, I may have to rethink how closely I follow His commands to love God and love neighbor.

IN HIS book, PRAYER, DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?, Philip Yancey recounts a “Prayer Checklist” recommended by David Mains. Reading it, I realized how far off the mark I often am. See if you fare better:
1. What do I really want? Am I being specific, or am I just rambling about nothing in particular?
2. Can God grant this request? Or is it against God’s nature to do so?
3. Have I done my part? Or am I praying to lose weight when I haven’t dieted?
4. How is my relationship with God? Are we on speaking terms?
5. Who will get the credit if my request is granted? Do I have God’s interest in mind?
6. Do I really want my prayer answered? What would happened if I actually did get that girlfriend back?

GOD WON’T GRANT EVERY PRAYER, no matter how many of us gather in His name to petition. He can’t put us in charge of running the world. And I can think of several instances where I could find far more than two or three fellow pray-ers who want what I want, misguided though it might be.

SO MAYBE INSTEAD OF ASKING if anybody’s there, I should be asking how often I make myself available . . . how often I’m listening to Him. Especially when I don’t like the answer. Because like Abraham Lincoln, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day” . . . and I have arisen a better woman.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!