FAITH THAT PRAYS

What do you think of when you hear the word WAIT?

Have you ever waited for a package to be dropped on your front porch?

Seems like, especially since Covid, we have most everything delivered to our doorstep. Literally, from dog food to donuts, it can be ordered and dropped off at your front door. 

The big difference between ordering online with front door delivery, and actually walking into a store and buying it, is the WAITING. 

I think this alone could be one of the main causes for the rise in anxiety that we’ve seen in our culture. We must wait!

Sure, it’s convenient to scroll through all the choices available, displayed in bold and bright color, while you are still in your pajamas. Problem is, as soon as you click the send button you…WAIT!

I recently found myself doing exactly what I just described. I was planning an event at church to honor our ladies. I decided on the theme, I love a good theme! Now, mind you, this was year five of planning this annual event. And the number one rule of every good theme is, “Do not repeat it!” So, scrolling for ideas is necessary. I finally found it, ‘Sweet As Can Bee.’ Did you catch that play on words there? Bee for Be, in order to focus on HONEY! After pouring out another coffee pot after another at my women’s Bible study, I realized that my ladies love Tea. And what goes better with tea than honey!

My search turned into a frenzy as I began searching every site available for honey related items. I found honey vanilla tea, honey straws, honey buns, honeycomb chocolate, and naturally the decor must match!

I quickly found honeybee napkins, swag for the photo booth and the perfect table cloths to pull it all together! CLICK SELECT AND SEND!

NOW WAIT.

I waited. 

The candy arrived first and tested my self-control. Slowly but surely items kept arriving on my doorstep. Then, they stopped arriving. There were only two items left, and they were nowhere in sight!

I waited, and I waited, and I waited!

Nothing came.

A bit of panic set in! I had no swag for my photo booth and no table cloths for my theme to be clear for all to see.

Know it may seem like a small trivial thing to pray about, but I began to pray! I wanted it to be perfect for our ladies. I needed the swag and the tablecloths so the theme would come alive!

The night before the event arrived and I was still WAITING.

I have been praying and still I was missing what I considered the two most important pieces to my plan.

Truth is, our plan is not always God’s plan!

So, because I had prayed, I was at perfect peace and let it go, right?

No, not at all, I was panicked! What can I do to make up for this terrible lack of theme?

I bought plain colored tablecloths as a back up and continued praying. I truly hoped I didn’t have to use them. At 8:35 at night the doorbell rang. My swag had arrived! I would be able to display the theme in writing across the photo booth backdrop! So, I finally stopped fretting about the table cloths?

Nope, I decorated that morning before the ladies would arrive and told everyone within earshot that my table cloths, which were perfect for my theme, had not arrived. 

The ladies arrived and the table cloths did not matter one bit. The gold ones that took their place looked great as they covered the tables where the honey treats sat. No one but me noticed the difference and the theme rang clear!

God had heard my prayer and He answered it! He knew what I needed, far beyond my knowledge of thinking I did.

While I was WAITING, He brought what I needed, the words of my theme, the swag for the photo booth at the last minute, in the final hour. He wanted me to keep waiting, keep praying, and most of all keep trusting Him! I needed to remember it was all about showing the women they were loved and not about a THEME.

Comedy Relief/Side Note…

The day after the event, the table cloths were WAITING on my doorstep!

God really does have a sense of humor!

The woman in the Bible who encourages us to pray as we WAIT, and demonstrates incredible faith in doing so is Hannah.

She is not only Faithful in Waiting, she is also faithful in prayer!

In the book of I Samuel we encounter the story of Hannah. She was married to Elkanah. She was not his only wife, but Elkanah actually had two wives. The name of his other wife was Paninnah. Paninnah had children and Hannah did not. Hannah was childless and her heart was broken over it.

I Samuel 1:10

“Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.”

Hannah was waiting for some thing that she grieved over and had no control over. Hannah‘s greatest desire and what she longed for most and waited for, was out of her control. All she could do was grieve, wait and pray.

Through tears and pain she had pleaded with the Lord. As she waited and prayed and nothing came, she made a vow to God.

“Making A vow, she pleaded, “Lord of armies, if you will take notice of your servants affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

I Samuel 1:11

Hannah’s faithful life reminds us that God cares about our prayers and He is faithful to respond! 

TRUTH BOMB

No prayer to God goes unheard or unanswered!

Even when God does not answer our prayers the way we want Him to He hears our requests, loves us deeply, and answers them according to His great wisdom.

God knows what is best and right for us. His greatest desire for us is that we grow closer to Him! 

“I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked Him for, I now give the boy to the Lord.” I Samuel 1:27-28

God hears our prayers my friend! He answers each and every one of them according to his great will, plan and purpose. His plans and purposes are always best for us!

So even when the “tablecloths” arrive the day after, God knew the swag needed to arrive the day before.

Let go of the “ tablecloths” of life, the things we think are important, and cling to the “swag,” the words God deems important! 

I pray this encourages you to keep praying through the difficult issues in life, like Hannah did, and let go of the unimportant pieces that can be let go of!

We really do need to learn to laugh at life circumstances when we can! 

Speak Truth Love