My pastor gave an especially awesome sermon today.
He is doing this sermon series:
The poor guy keeps getting hate mail from people who have seen the street signs that he puts all over town with this logo on it. People just don’t want their Savior in sunglasses. It is ‘heretical’. It is ‘unholy’. Whatever- Jesus was one cool Dude, and I am positive that if He was rockin’ in out in 2010, He would be smart enough to put some shades on his Holy Eyes!
Anyway, so Pastor Donnie had this giant pad of paper out with a list of things that we all like to pray for: healing, provision, deliverance (holla at my world racers!), intimacy, etc. Praying for all of that is cool, and God is graceful and merciful and allows us to tap into His power. The problem is when we try to make Him a “one dimensional God” and think that each of those things is all that He is.
So Pastor Donnie had another list of words written on a mirror. I couldn’t read them because the light was reflecting off of the mirror and blinding me (we meet in a movie theater with super bright lights) but bear with me.
Today we were reading in Matthew 11. Poor John the Baptist was really in a bad situation- he was in prison and was going to be beheaded in a few days. He sent his disciples to go and talk with Jesus. What he needed to know in order to endure what he was going through and was about to was that Jesus was truly who He said that He was. Since his life was most certainly on the line, John needed to know that if he was about to be martyred, it was really for the Messiah and not some lunatic false prophet. Can’t blame the guy. Valid concern, considering.
John was waiting in prison… expectant for Jesus’ power to intersect with his need. If Jesus truly was who He said He was… then where the heck was He and why wasn’t he instigating some kind of holy prison break?!
Here’s the punch line guys- and spoiler alert, it’s kind of a bummer. Even though God has the power to make everything great, that is less important than us reflecting Him to the world.
So what does that look like? That might look like a person who is dying of cancer praying to God for healing… and not being healed because it is more important for God to reflect joy in suffering and peace through adversity than it is to heal that person.
It might look like a girl who has been in the US Military for 10 years… and who blew out her knee… and has been on medical hold for the past year and a half allegedly awaiting separation… who believes with all of her heart that the Lord has revealed her calling to her… yet as the deadline (January 15) marches closer, she seems to be no closer to her promised discharge- which, let’s be honest- might not even go through. Let’s say that this girl has been praying- fasting, praying on her knees, crying oceans of tears, diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (which the Lord later healed her of- praise the Living God!), all because she so desperately wanted God’s provision.
Was she concerned with reflecting the peace of Christ to a hurting world? Nope.
Did she care if her breakdown was a bunch of bad PR for her Savior? Not really. Her pain was an excuse to be selfish.
Was she an awesome witness to the importance of dependence upon Christ during this time? Definitely not!
And to be honest, I think that is why this process has dragged out for so long. Everyone I have spoken to who is “in the know” about medical boards is amazed at how many people have messed this medical board up. No one can believe that it has lasted this long. But rather than granting me provision during this time, the Lord has taught (and continues to teach-I seem to be a bit of a slow learner) me dependency.
My prayer has changed from: “LORD! Get me out of the Navy so that I can do Your will!”
To: “LORD! Thank You for revealing to me what Your will is in my life! I will keep taking the steps to move closer to it, but I know that You will put me right where you need me… even if that place is a Navy ship.”
After all, the military is notorious for purchasing commercial sex from prostitutes- many of whom I am certain were trafficked.
So what I have learned this week is that God has a purpose for each of us. Even once we have received our Call, that doesn’t mean that much is even figured out. We then need to depend upon the Lord even more because the stakes are so much higher! We are emotionally invested. Since my purpose in life is actually God’s purpose FOR my life- it has been really idiotic of me to think that He wasn’t paying attention this past year. God just needs to get me where I need to be to do what He has set out for me. That might be joining my team on this missions trip, or it might be rockin’ it out on a ship somewhere. Either way, I don’t have to wait for a decision from the med board to be in God’s Will for my life.
Just one more quick story (are you still reading this?)
I hope that what I have written will be an encouragement for anyone who is struggling with unanswered prayer. Perhaps you and I were like Hannah, and God needed to make a change in us before we could change the world…
