Greetings to you in the Name, the wonderful Name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a beautiful morning in the Kingdom…I trust that you have given thanks to Him for life today, for health, for strength, for family, for friends, for your home, for food to eat, for peace, for love, and for sunshine…that’s ten reasons to start with! I trust that you have had a good week and that you are excited about gathering with your church family this weekend. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to make His presence known to you in ways that you will understand and in ways that you can respond to.
This week in my devotions I have been considering some thoughts and ideas that have challenged me…forcing me to grow in my understanding. Today I want to share some of the phrases and quotes that I have been wrestling with, who knows God might want you to grow a little too!
…perhaps one of the reasons why we go through times of spiritual confusion and frustration is because, although we are big enough to ask the questions, we are not always big enough to understand the answers…’What can be greater than the pain of unanswered prayer?’ I have occasionally responded, ‘The pain of answered prayer.’ … ‘He who asks God for light must not complain if the light scorches at time with its fierce and naked heat, and he who asks God for guidance must not be surprised if God points him to paths he would rather not tread.’ … we need to learn that sometimes the answers to our prayers will not be those that we necessarily expected. It is easy to ask that our prayers be answered, but the answers are not always easy to receive … God’s thoughts are not only higher than ours – sometimes they are also diametrically opposite to ours … from ‘Every Day With Jesus’ by Selwyn Hughes.
I am confident that you, like me, have been surprised and challenged and disappointed and angered by the answers to prayer we have received. Here in our church family we have been ‘camping around’ some particular verses of Scripture and one of them is from Isaiah 55…My thoughts are not your thoughts…My ways are not your ways – a real challenge, at times, to accept. These are things to ponder in the quiet moments of warm summer days.
Have a great weekend and be blessed!