I had a conversation with someone close to me who believes that she’s losing faith. “Where’s God? He’s not here. I don’t believe He’s with me.” Her statements hit home for me because I’ve been praying for something that I’m sure will ease my heart’s burden; bringing great joy to my life and my writing. Yet, my request hasn’t been answered. To compound the concern, Satan uses my daily thoughts regarding the subject to throw in more things that he knows will affect me. What better way to hurt someone than to keep poking at an open wound?
She said, “God’s silent. He’s not here.” That got me thinking. Oh no, dear friend, God is always here. He’s with us every moment of every day, even when we can’t see it. God sees the full picture of our lives. He sees beyond the moment that we’re living right now (which is all we see). He knows the outcome of every circumstance. It’s not up to us to give God a time schedule.
Does the wind not blow although we can’t see it? Often, we’re unable to see what God’s doing on our behalf. We can’t see a tiny spec of pollen, yet the wind carries it and creates a beautiful flower somewhere down the road. When we focus on the large disruptions of our lives, it’s easy to miss evidence that God is with us. When hurt, and pain pervades our minds, we must give it to God…again and again. We must faithfully hand over those things which are beyond our control as many times as it takes to get through the day, the week, the month, the year(s) until it’s resolved. In the meanwhile, what I choose to do is change my focus onto the smaller things that are clear evidence that God is here.
I woke up this morning. God is here.
I drove to work without an accident. God is here.
I’m in the same love relationship that I had yesterday. God is here.
I have a roof over my head. God is here.
I have food to eat. God is here.
I have a job. God is here.
I’m not on life support machines. God is here.
My friends and family love me. God is here.
(Insert your own). God is here.
We don’t always know what God has in mind for us. We’re to learn from the heartache (Boy, am I getting a hard lesson these days). God may not answer when we'd prefer Him to, or in the way we want. Regardless of the when or the how, we must remain prayerfully faithful and commit ourselves to accepting God’s decisions regarding our well-being. This is well said in the song “Even If” by Mercy Me:
“They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Well good thing
A little faith is all I have, right now
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Oh give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul”