I take no credit for this blog but I had to repost it because it speaks so much truth and I love it. I hope it blesses you all.
By: Carrie Eason
I love how the Lord works. I love that His “no” is good. This past Saturday, when my body went crazy, my team and I first turned to the Lord and asked Him to stop what was happening. I very much believe that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that I cannot and should not claim something for myself, such as healing, that isn’t promised to me in Scripture. Having said this, I do believe that God heals. So we asked, believing that God would answer according to His goodness… and then we made plans to take me to the doctor to get checked out.
There are so many times that we face hardship and suffering and assume that we know what God should do. We assume we know what the goodness of the Lord looks like in our circumstances. We assume that Him healing is what is best. We assume that our heart’s desire to be healthy and whole and free of suffering are blessings that God values more than working through these things to make Himself known.
I think of Moses approaching a bush on fire that wasn’t burning up and hearing the command of the Lord to go and speak to Pharaoh on behalf of God’s people… even though he was not a man of eloquent speech.
I think of Joseph being wrongly accused and sitting in prison, wondering where the promise of God was that He had seen in a dream years prior.
I think of Daniel refusing to obey the King’s command to only pray to him and finding himself in a den of lion’s.
I think of Christ, sweating drops of blood and pleading that the cup of God’s wrath would pass Him by in the garden so long ago.
I love that the nations of Egypt and Israel saw a man that could not speak eloquently still go before Pharaoh and obey… though he had Aaron at his side. I love that Joseph saw and experienced a God who could work through the worst of circumstances to bring about exactly what He had promised… That prison was for a purpose and for the good of Israel. I love that King Darius peeked his head down into a den full of lions and saw Daniel still alive and as a result this king said that Daniel’s God was indeed the living God. God did not rescue Daniel from the den, but He did shut the mouths of those lions so that He might be known and glorified by a pagan king. I love that it was God’s will to crush Christ and give to Him the cup of His wrath so that many might find life and salvation though His sacrifice.
All of these men faced fear and suffering that they were not spared from… for the glory of the Lord.
As we boarded the bus on Monday, God had not stopped what was happening to my body. He was saying, “No.” Rich, Vanessa and I wondered together what purpose the Lord might have for us still at our former ministry site since we believe that the Lord is faithful and good in all of His answers to our prayers.
We have truly been amazed to see that God wanted us at the table of our former contact so that we could read and study Scripture together and challenge each other over matters of faith. We have had the honor to speak the Word to the two teams that still remain at Pop Up and hear numerous squad mates tell us that we came back for them… to encourage them in the Word and inspire them to know it more then they know anything else. This morning the three of us sat together pouring over our Bibles and three young men came and sat at our table, asking to be included in the conversation… they left saying that they were inspired to study more and we have an appointment tomorrow to meet with them again.
I love that the Lord says “No” to some prayers so that He can say “Yes” to what is far better. I think of the woman who had an issue of blood. When she touched the cloak of Christ, the Word says that He felt power leave Him. Anything that brings us to Christ and His glory is the place I want to be. Rich, Vanessa and I are in awe of having experienced the power of God at work in His people through His initial no to our original prayers for immediate healing. I am better now, but even if I weren’t, I love learning and relearning that the Lord is the faithful one and that His no is just as good and often more glorious that His expected yes.
