In Other Words

We are urgent about the body; He is about the soul. We call for present comforts; He considers our everlasting rest. And therefore when He sends not the very things we ask, He hears us by sending greater than we can
ask or think. Richard Cecil

I picture a stack of papers piled at the corner of my desk a bit tattered and yellowed from their stay, although unattractive by nature they represent the many unanswered prayers through the years. There have been so many
things I have declared that "I needed or desired" and pleaded with the Lord to allow these events or things in my life. Several things come to my mind, but one stands out. A few years ago my oldest daughter had participated in a drama performance group through the school she was attending at the time. There was a selection process for the following year in which several students were selected to go on and work with a group which would perform in area schools and so on. Everything in the natural mind would have expected my daughter to be selected, but God did not bring what we asked. He did not answer my prayers for my daughter. Instead the words, "He hears us by sending greater than we can ask or think" were lived out before me in the next few months. In the moment, I did not understand why. I prayed with my daughter as she cried and felt a bit betrayed not by God, but by the director and leader of this group. In her natural mind she had worked hard and in every way should have been selected. But neither of us knew what God's plans were at the moment.

Over the next couple of months as the Lord began to open the door for our move across the country we began to see God's gracious and loving hand in our lives. My husband, my daughter, and I all knew had she been selected for this group our hearts may not have been open to His plans. Even my daughter proclaimed God's goodness in her life allowing her heart to be open to the change that was approaching. At a time in a young person's life when most would agree that a major move would be detrimental, she welcomed God's plan.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

Again, the image of several pieces of paper stacked at the corner of my desk and what they represent, reminds me of God's loving and sovereign hand in my own life. There are a few new pieces of paper at the top of the stack. There are still many that have been there for years. At times, I feel the need to deal with these on my own, but than I remember the words of Psalm 77:11-19

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.

You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.

I desire God's footprints throughout my life, those unseen places which only He knows what is needed and what will bring about His eternal plans for my life.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11

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