It's Not Over 'Til He Says It Is

I want something. I see the example of it throughout scripture. I pray for it fervently. I am not going to tell you what it is because it is not your prayer; but you might have prayed, or are praying, for something like it. 1 John 5:14, 15, “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him”. What I want is in his will; I know because scripture says it. It is sort of like people reading about the fruits of the Spirit, and saying, “Patience, will make my life better, give me patience, Lord”. Then they pray for patience, (frightening, right?) expecting that the Spirit will snap its wispy fingers and “shazam”. Alas, I have never seen anyone gain patience without the events that make them patient. I was, however, elated to find that it was an official, “yes, do this; this is my will”; because I knew that when I prayed for it, I was on the right track. I haven’t received it, yet. I know that it is scriptural. I know that it is the Lord’s will. I, also, know that I need to be on my knees about this, and I am. I was sitting with my mentor, yesterday, and she said, “You know, if God wanted to ‘answer that prayer’, he could do it right now”. Hmmm…God is choosing not to answer me. I have three options. I can get fussy, and, oh my, I am so good at that. Number two, I could say that prayer does not work and withhold from Christ because He doesn’t perform for me like a pet. Or I can open my bible…Isaiah 55:8, 9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”. This last one requires me to say, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2). Give me number three. As important as our culture tells us we are, we belong to God. That is part of the gig; we trust that, as the sovereign ruler of the universe, He is smarter than we are. He made my brain, He made my personality, and He knows the number of hairs on my head and the number of days in my life. He is infinitely more capable to handle my prayer request than I am. I was watching, “The Passion”, last night with two wonderful women. After it was over, one of them said, “What did you get from it this time?” I am not a quick processor, so I had to rummage through the catalogue of thoughts and come up with something. This struck me. Christ was brutally beaten, His flesh was torn to shreds, He wore a crown of thorns that pierced His head, and He was spat upon and taunted. Mark 15:29, 30, “Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” See, this is what we do. We look at God and tell Him what would look God-worthy. We tell Him that the way to be God is to show off and take His Son down from the cross. We are ready for the miracle, and a light show would not be bad, either. God says, absolutely not. He knows something that we don’t. Christ would not end there. Christ did not die for the fireworks display. It was not finished until He said that it was. It was not over until HE commended His spirit to the Father. But there was more… What happened then? A dead Christ was in a borrowed tomb for three days and He walked out. Why? To reign forever with His Father in heaven; giving us a forever with Him. Hallelujah! Say that with me. Hallelujah! God does not always answer in an impressive way, or even when I want for Him to answer. Sometimes, I have to be on my knees offering it to Him – the offering is part of the answer. Then He takes everything that is standing in the way of this one request and crucifies it…until it is dead, until it is finished. Oh but wait, he resurrects it in a form that glorifies Him and conforms it to His perfect will. The things that I ask for are small, and when God answers, like Job, I have to cover my simple, unworthy mouth and marvel at this awesome God. Our God is sovereign and He has all the resources of heaven and earth at His disposal. If He wanted to answer, He could do it right now; but if He doesn’t, watch out, we just might see the best light show ever. Lord, hear our prayer today: I say to the Lord, “You are my God; give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.” 7O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer, you have covered my head in the day of battle. – Psalm 140: 6, 7