“Three different times I begged God to make me well again. Each time he said, ‘No.'”
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (LB)
I was reading this and thinking about how it feels to hear a “No”. It is hard, especially when it comes from God. The questions that many believers may have are: If He can, why doesn’t He? Why doesn’t God just release his power and heal all of the pain and sorrows? I know that I would, if I were God.
But because we are not God, there must be something more. Sometimes healing is just not part of God’s plan or His way. What He does offer is His presence. This gives us the greatest comfort and healing that we could ever ask for. He is there at all times and never abandons us.
So even if His first response is “No”. It is not the end of the world. He could be molding, growing or teaching us and the people around us. Through faith we are called to trust. And I can rest assured trusting in a God who speaks of the future as though they were already past!
“God speaks of future events with as much certainty as though they were already past.”
Romans 4:17
I wrote this blog before the race and I keep running back to it. On the race we are exposed to some pretty rough stuff. Stuff that we need to see, but hard to swallow, process and understand even the slightest. Many times I find myself praying and crying out for the people we see and the situations they are going through, and only sometimes see any ‘results’. Learning to trust God through not understanding has been a HUGE theme recently. It is this aspect of faith that is the hardest for me to grasp.
Yet in the Scriptures, we see Noah and Abraham faithful when they didn’t understand. Noah built the ark-when it made no sense (Heb 11:7) and Abraham left his country not knowing where he was going (Heb 11:8).
What areas in your life are you finding yourself asking God Why? How can __ happen? I challenge you to ask the tough questions. Be rough and real before the Lord. He hears you cries and answers your prayers.
