I’ve been sitting on these 3 small, seemingly insignificant tittles of our English language for quite some time. Continued notions zoom by as I have played them over and over intertwining them with the plaguing unanswered questions that seem to be on constant replay.
I have noted myself to be a person of contrast, sometimes gullible and easily swayed, yet firmly grounded in what I have found to be truth.
My parents taught me about prayer at a young age, a gift I cherish and enjoy to this day. They showed me God’s personal side, and his love for us, his beautiful creation, and how very much He pays attention to the small details in our lives.
As I have grown older, I find myself somewhat callous and honestly, at times, questioning. Do my prayers matter? Is God really who he says he is? Is Heaven real?
The heavy load of grief has saddled many a dear soul close to me, including my own.
Sometimes I find myself wondering why we even pray for healing, financial miracles or restoration of a marriage.
Did I just say that out loud?
Recently though I was reminded of the why we do exactly that.
A sweet friend recently lost her husband to a brutal brain tumor. On the post announcing his passing, the one line caught my eye. Through my tears, I have gone back to it several times. “although our hearts are broken, we rejoice with him that our prayers for complete healing were answered…”
God did not close his ears to the prayers of healing for this man, he just answered them in a different way then hoped.
Heaven is perfection, complete healing. Whereas staying here presents the reality of continued pressures, problems and pain.
While seasons may bring us to different places in our thought processes, the reality of our foundation is God’s faithfulness and knowledge of what we truly need most.
He invites us to ask the most difficult questions with the assurance that his shoulders are big enough to handle them.
His call to us is simple yet profound.
In Matthew 17 he says, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
He, sweet friend, is bigger and more capable then the what we see as unanswered prayers and every “and if not” moment we face.