“God’s faithfulness isn’t demonstrated by HIs activity aligning with your prayers. It’s your prayers aligning with His faithfulness and His will where you become more and more assured of His activity. Even if, maybe especially if, His activity and His answers don’t look like you thought they would.”- Lysa TerKeurst
“You though you were being made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Lysa TerKeurst concludes Chapter 11 of Forgiving What You Can’t Forget as she notes how prone we find ourselves to trust God less when we face awful things in front of us. Yet, when God doesn’t supply His provision in the way we expect, we must trust that He sees the big picture. As a result, we know with certainty that He truly gives us His good provision. Whether is fulfills a present need or functions as part of a much bigger plan.
Furthermore, what matters most of all centers on how God’s working in us. Rather than what He’s working on. Therefore, Lysa exhorts, pray for what you know to pray and need to pray. Then, let the faithfulness of God:
- interpret what you see
- build your trust
- ease the ache of your confusion, bitterness, and bewilderment
Hence, Lysa counsels, we must avoid forming conclusions from a place of betrayal, disillusionment, or unfairness. Because that skews our perspective. Thus, Lysa explains:
“What we see today isn’t all there is to see. Our thinking and our ways are imperfect. If we can’t understand God’s thoughts and His ways on our best days, we certainly will not be able to understand them on our worst days.”
In conclusion, Lysa stresses, God made our souls to trust Him as the source of making good out of everything in front of us. But it takes time for our battered hearts and prone-to-fear minds to catch up. God provides for us every day. And whether we recognize it or not, we’re living in answered prayers.
Today’s question: How do you find your prayers aligning with His faithfulness? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Loss is a crucible – indeed”
