We tend to think of "faith" as being confident in how God works in our lives. I now believe that God is immeasurably less concerned with our day-to-day earthly existence than we are. Don't get me wrong: He absolutely loves us, wants what's best for us, and actively works for the good of those who truly love Him (Rom 8:28). But what does this actually mean or look like? Does it really matter where we work, where we live, whom we marry (or if we marry!), etc.?
Anyone who has walked with God for a few decades will tell you that life has not turned out the way they expected. Why is this? I think it's because we're conditioned to expect "happily ever after" -- especially if we're walking with God. Sadly, this just isn't reality.
When I look back on my life thus far, I can see many times things didn't go the way I wanted them to; I can also see how God worked through many of them for my good...but not all of them. So what's the deal?
I think the problem is that we tend to think OT style: physical provision, protection, and blessings. After all, we ask God to heal us or loved ones, provide good jobs, and on and on and on. We ask God to fix things and to give us good things, and we use snippets like Jeremiah 29:11 and Matthew 7:11 -- often taken way out of context -- to justify doing so.
Digging deeper, however, we see that NT style is primarily focused on spiritual provision, protection, and blessings. After all, how many times have we asked God for good things and not received them? How many times has He not healed, or fixed, or...?
And, it's very hard to appreciate the big-picture, long-term spiritual promises in the face of earthly, physical, in-your-face trials and suffering...especially when prayers seem to continue to go "unanswered."
But God rarely just doesn't answer. He does at times, for specific reasons (our sin, His testing/pruning, etc.), but that's not the norm. Sometimes he simply says "no." Sometimes "not yet." And we rarely have any idea why!
So where does this leave us? Just exactly what or how are we supposed to pray? What are we supposed to expect?
The "Lord's Prayer" has absolutely been sufficiently analyzed, so I'm not going to try to do that here. I will pull out one piece, though: "Lord, thy will be done...." But, God's will is done. Always. Sometimes it's His caused will, and sometimes it's His allowed will, but nothing ever happens outside his sovereignty. So why bother asking even for that, it it's gonna happen anyway?
At this point, I'm starting to think that what I should really be praying for is to trust God enough to be able and willing to simply surrender to whatever happens. And to trust someone, you have to truly know them. And we know God through is Word and through remembrance (looking back on our lives for and at the times we can see His presence and action). Scripture is filled with God telling His people to remember and recount what He has done for them (and of course, exhortation to love and live by His word).
I'm reminded at this point of my favorite Taoist story (not that I know many lol): The Chinese Farmer (or "The Maybe Story" and other names). I REALLY want to be like this farmer!!
And maybe (see what I did there? 😊), as we continue to fight the good fight (1 Tim 6:12, James 1:2-4), draw near to God (James 4:8), and set our minds and hearts on things above (Col 3:1-2), we begin to correct our understanding of what we are supposed to expect, and how we relate to God. In turn, we begin more and more to see it -- even if only after the fact. And the joy and peace that are ours only in Christ (Php 4:4, Php 4:7, Gal 5:22) become more and more part of who we are.
And then, Heaven. :)
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