Prove It!

We’ve all heard the saying, it’s darkest just before dawn when someone is trying to encourage us to hold tight.  But when we’re going through something and we’re praying for God to make it stop or to change the situation or even for a breakthrough, we don’t want to hear words of encouragement or otherwise. We want to see things moving, changing, or getting better. Afterall, actions speak louder than words, right?   Well let me just say, in order for you to see action, you must first feed on the words in God’s promises and allow those words to ignite a faith that sparks action from God.  He wants us to genuinely believe that He hears our prayers, and He is more than capable of doing what we ask of Him.  He’s already answered the prayers but the appointed date and time for it to come to fruition may not be right now, tomorrow, next week or next year.  It may be farther down the road than what we would like because He is putting things and people in proper position for the answer to come in a way that everyone involved will know God is here, His hand is on this situation.  Also, when the answer takes longer than you would like, it’s because the results involve more than you alone.  Someone else in the situation needs to know God and the power of His presence, the power of His love and how faith in Him is key.   

There is a song I would often listen to.  The title is Make an Example Out of Me recorded by Regina Bell.  One day when I was singing along to the song, I realized near the end she says, ‘when death comes knocking at my door, I still want to be used by You, Lord, when I lose my job and I need You, I want to be used by you’…   She was saying I want to be an example of what it means to have faith in You no matter what is going on in my life so work through me to show others the results of my faith.  But something about that part of the song stunned me.  I stopped for a moment and said, ‘but God I don’t want death knocking at my door and I don’t want to lose my job.”  I had to examine myself right there in that moment because in a sense I was saying I want to have faith and tell people I believe but I don’t want to be put to the test.  Yet when we’re asking God for the things we need, aren’t we in essence putting Him to the test.  If we are praying to our Lord, the one who created all and has full authority over all, asking for whatever it is we are in need of, aren’t we saying God show me that You can and You will.  Aren’t we really saying prove to me that Your words are not just words but true and real?  When we stop to realize that’s exactly what we’re doing, we should also realize that God is telling us the same.  Show me that you’re not just talking the talk but you’re also walking the walk.  Show me that when times are hard you still trust Me to provide.  Show me that when you’re sick and the doctors are giving you an unfavorable diagnosis you know I’m a healer and miracles are my specialty.   When life is scary and the weight is too heavy for you, show me that you will give it all over to me and trust me to carry the load, carry you beyond the circumstances, and restore more than what you may have to give up along the way.

If we want God to show action behind His words, we must also show action by believing and having faith.  Our action steps are, Ask, Believe, Give Thanks, and Wait.  (Philippians 4:6)   Our focus should never be on the ‘When,’ it should only be on the “Who.”   Think about all the things you wait for in life.  You wait in line at the grocery store, restaurants, doctor’s office, you wait for your pay day and girls wait sometimes years for that guy to propose.  All that waiting without doubts, without complaints, and often without even considering the fact that you are indeed waiting.   If we wait for all these things in life, why is the wait for an answered prayer the time when we get discouraged or frustrated and give up?  That’s the time that all that patience exercised in trivial matters should really pay off.

It may be dark now, but your dawn is going to come. Until it does, get up, remember to give thanks for each new day, ask for today’s strength, and keep believing because you’re somebody’s example.