WHY THINGS DON'T ALWAYS TURN OUT TO BE WHAT WE PRAY FOR!

Human beings, being who we are, have such a wealth of opportunity for misunderstandings and lack of communications, it's a wonder we still exist. From our earliest beginnings, between our creation and now, never has there been such a mixed-up mess upon this earth as we have presented ourselves with,and find ourselves in now. From the very nucleus of relationships, the family, right on out to the furthest reaches of our ripples of the global pool, we have managed to offend, infuriate, insult,damage and downright hurt absolutely everybody else. In most cases, without apology, or awareness...unless it is brought to our attention, and then, when it is pointed out, many react in anger.  PRIDE then contributes to the situation, and what began as an accidental oversight, or a well-intentioned mis-step becomes a break-down in communication...(if there was any to begin with)..and being cautious turns to suspicion. Confusion becomes an intentional slight, a chance remark becomes a planned attack, and a conversation turns to a feud of words, which becomes a cold war, just inches from the hot button. Of course, this chain of events only is believable if you buy into the notion that we are all just a bunch of innocent wide-eyed morons, running around trying to do good,and failing miserably. Well, in the circles in which I move, much of this could be true,but then again....probably not. A mixture of truth and wishful thinking is more like it, when we try to make up, mend our fences and resume our sharing and chit-chat,sometimes it is all we can do to keep from blurting out secret thoughts of how we view recent actions, and what the underlying cause of the begging off from a planned get together was, such as "Oh, I know why you didn't want to come over on Sunday..you'd rather go to the boat instead!" As if a person shouldn't have the right to cancel plans,and go elsewhere when something they would rather do presents itself. But, left unsaid to the person who cancels, they don't know that you got your blasted feelings hurt,do they? No. Not unless you tell them somehow.But again, your PRIDE takes over,and you won't let them know how hurt you are.Pretty soon, you don't speak as often, and when you do, sometimes you argue. You begin to understand each other's motives less and less, and the silences become longer, and more frequently, you don't agree when you do speak, and finally, you are no longer friends...and resentment builds. Well, it doesn't matter if it is two persons, or two countries,that is the way conflicts are born.

And who do we blame when the facade crumbles, and war brakes out?  We blame God. Even atheists will use those terrible times to point to, and say, "See? There can't possibly be a God! Not if he lets this happen!" And then the believers will doubt, and cast aspersions,saying,"This isn't what I prayed for!" Completely forgetting that we have been told that God's ways are not our ways. Of course! We are not perfect,often make mistakes, and cannot see into the future. God, on the other hand, is perfect, can see into the future, and never makes a mistake. Which is why we should be going to the Lord with our everyday problems to begin with, instead of waiting until we have messed things up so badly in our own mental and physical power we can see no way out,and then we turn to Him, pleading for a miracle. That is where we go wrong, and that includes me too. I have been known to do some pretty stupid things,and the fact that I had a terrible temper before I got saved didn't make things any better. I tended Bar for a few years,and learned to cuss you out in two and a half languages! If I drank vodka, I turned into Ralph-rotten, and if you made me a promise, you'd better keep it! Last, but not least, you'd better think twice before you came knocking on my door after midnight! I'm only telling you this to help you understand just how much the Lord helped me to overcome when I got saved, because I am certainly not proud of the fact,but this is how I was. I had such a reputation! But the Lord brought me out of all that, and changed my life,and has directed my steps ever since.

If you allow the Lord to guide you along the way, there will still be problems, but there is a chance that the leading of the Spirit has been such, that the worst case scenario is avoided.As a child of God, we must remember that there are forces working in this world that are constantly trying to lead you away from our Lord. That is where the good fight of faith comes in. Remember in Daniel, where he has prayed three times a day? This was not just because of some special need, Daniel was under constant pressure, and he knew that he was not strong enough on his own to withstand his enemies attempts to break him down without a very strong connection with God. Because of his faithfulness, Daniel SAW the angels that came to help him, such as when he was thrown into the lion's den, and the angel came and shut the jaws of the lions. Daniel was blessed. He saw the threats coming at him,and he also saw his deliverance quickly because he kept tight to God. We today seem to have forgotten we are still threatened,just as Daniel was, only we can't see our foes,yet we can certainly see the damage that they create in our lives. Yes, even when you are spirit led, you will still need to depend upon the lord,and keep a strong prayer life going...not just for what God can do for you, but simply for who he is,so that when you pray over a situation, and he gives you the answer, you know you can trust him. Then, when the hand of the almighty moves in a situation,you can stand and watch how marvelously he works for those who love him...and be amazed! Try him and see that our God truly is an awesome God!

OUI?

Comments

[Rick]

I think our prayers sometimes don't get answered because we/I are generally too self-absorbed to realize they've actually been answered :) - hmmm?

[FEATHERHEAD]

Excellent point Rick!