May 4, 2018

Why Won’t God Answer?

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

– Isaiah 59:1-2

“Why won’t God answer my prayers?” Her voice was quiet, the weight of sadness heavy on her shoulders. Unshed tears watered her eyes.

It does seem like God is ignoring us sometimes, doesn’t it? We pray and pray and pray and still it seems that God won’t respond. Nothing. No word. No sign. No indication that He’s even heard us.

We wait and wait and wait. The time of decision is at hand and still we wait. Where is God? You desperately want to do His will but how can you know what His will is if God won’t tell you?

There are many reasons why He doesn’t respond to our prayers. Maybe it’s because we have unconfessed sin in our hearts. God may be waiting for us to acknowledge our own inequities and change our behavior, our words, our hearts, before He acknowledges our prayers.

David asked God in Psalm 139 to search his heart and point out anything that might be wrong. We can do the same. Sometimes we harbor sin without really being aware of it. God will show us if we ask. The rest of it – confession and repentance – rests with us.

Other times God simply wants us to wait. His timing and ours rarely seem to be following the same clock. We get anxious, ready to move ahead. God wants us to feel His peace where we are. There is a lesson in the waiting. Look for it.

And sometimes God wants us to take a step forward in faith before He’ll clearly show us the way to go. This is a hard one. We want to know the path before we cut ties with the past. Where’s the trust in that? Is God nudging your heart in a certain direction? Pay attention to His still, quiet voice.

In the study Breathe, Priscilla Shirer talks about a season with small children and an overwhelming travel schedule for ministry. She and her husband prayed and prayed and they felt God calling them to step back and take a Sabbath. It took a while. They had commitments booked out for about two years. But they set a goal.

Here’s the thing: They didn’t know what that Sabbath would look like. They didn’t have a plan. But they trusted that God would take care of them and lead them where He wanted them to go.

They followed God first. Then the call came from Lifeway asking Priscilla to join their team as a speaker at large events. God wanted her to stay in ministry, just in a different way that was better suited to her young children and that particular season of her life.

When God seems distant ask yourself if you have really listened for His voice? Or have you been waiting for Him to answer the way you think He should? Sometimes we keep praying about something because we don’t like what God has told us. That’s not a comfortable thought, is it?

God always hears our prayers. God always answers our prayers. But we hear from Him in His timing, not ours. And we hear from Him what He thinks is best and not what we have asked Him to bless.

When you feel God’s silence, hit your knees and look inside. What are you missing that God wants you to see? Clean your heart and open it wide. Wait. God is right there.

January 4, 2018

Seek Answers From God

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. – James 1:5

It weighs heavy on my mind. The calf is sick. She’s been sick for weeks. Most people would have given up long ago. Maybe I should but there’s something in me that just can’t give up.

I’ve had the veterinarian out. I did that the first day she was sick. She’s had a total of four shots. Three were for her snotty nose and drooling. The last was for a sore foot that she developed much later. The foot has also had medicine directly applied. She wasn’t too happy about that.

She appears healthy but she has no energy. She is spoiled rotten. That’s my fault. I tote her feed and water and hay. I even bought her some special sweet feed. She loves it by the way.

But she’s not getting better and I don’t know what to do. I really need my Daddy to tell me what to do. Except he’s gone to heaven. I remind myself that even if he was still here, his mind was gone. He wouldn’t know anymore. That just breaks my heart all over again.

I am so grateful to my heavenly Father. I am grateful that He never leaves me alone. I am grateful that He is generous with His wisdom. I am grateful that He has all the answers.

So I pray and wait and hope. At one point, I asked God to take the baby calf if He didn’t plan to heal her. She’s still here, waiting for me every morning for the feed she now expects. And refusing to do anything she doesn’t want to do. She’s stubborn. And she has me wrapped around her hoof.

James goes on to say this: But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (v. 6)

Believe. Do not doubt. So I get up every morning and we do it all again, this little calf and I.

When it all first happened and my Daddy was gone forever, there would be days when I would cry out to God for help. I wouldn’t know what to do and there was no one to help me. No one. Except for God. I would demand that He show up, that He show His face, that He tell me what to do and, in some cases, how to do it. God was all I had and, not surprisingly, He was all I needed.

That hasn’t changed except that I am even more dependent on God these days. The list of what I don’t know grows longer each day. I have learned so much but I have so much to learn. I am blessed with wonderful people in my life. I am beyond blessed with a God who never leaves me alone.

Each day I ask for wisdom and then wait expectantly for His knowledge and direction. I don’t know what God’s plan is for that little calf. I will continue to feed her and care for her until God tells me not to do it anymore. It’s that way with most things. I get up, work, and do what is in front of me, trusting God to light the path I travel. I trust His wisdom and I trust that He will always be there to give me what I need as the journey unfolds. One step at a time.