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Almost There.....

by Shannon Heiden  
9/08/2009 / Devotionals

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:32 NIV)

Beautiful One, how many times have you question sovereignty and were disappointed as a result?.... Does God get any glory from things that don't happen? This may seem like an obvious no brainer. But, when we have walked through certain situations, and cannot make sense of it, somewhere deep down, we do question the Lord. Why did you let this happen God? You're God, you could've prevented this, and better yet, you could change it....

Most Christians struggle with these questions. It's as if their afraid to admit it outwardly so no one thinks they don't have faith, or weak faith at best.

In case no one told you, we all question God and God does not mind our questions. He created us to think, and to problem solve. When an answer seems to escape us after we have fumbled through it, and we turn to the One who knows it all. It is not a sign of struggling faith, but of a genuine heart longing for a reason. If you didn't have faith, than you wouldn't even "question God."

The bible says if you have faith as a mustard seed, than we can speak to any mountain, and it will be uplifted and thrown into the sea. That means when we apply the balm of faith onto our problems, we can remove the problem...

Great scripture, we know it's true. But, what happens when the only movement of your mountain is that it increases and enlarges?

Beautiful One, sometimes things happen and they make no sense at all. Sometimes in the midst of turmoil, we think we've missed it or did something wrong. We think that the attack came as a result of some failure on our part.

This is not always the case.

Sometimes, it's because you are so close to the promise coming to pass, that trouble has shown up to divert your attention, and distract you off the path.

Because you're almost there!

Just think about it. Here you are walking along the way. Then out of nowhere a trial shows up like a tree that is cut down and falls right in front of you. Its to big to move, or go around, you have to deal with it.

At first, we tend to relive the events that brought us up to that moment. Then as we are shaken up a bit by confusion, we try to maneuver and reason our way out. When that doesn't work, and we're still in the same position, we then cry out to God for help. But, He chooses to stay silent.

Oh Great, just when I need His wisdom the most, he gets quiet. Now what? Then a slow resentment follows, the longer the trial, and the stronger the silence, the faster the resentment flows. What does He expect me to do now? And we slowly blame God for the path, the problem and for not coming to our rescue when we'd like him to.

I know this has never happened to you, but I can speak from experience and am not ashamed to say, that I have walked through many a hard time and wondered where in the heck God was. Did he fall asleep on the job and the enemy came in and grabbed the reigns in the life of Shannon?

There was a time when I was too afraid to confront God. I can say after a little maturing and walking with Him, that I no longer fear, just being me. If I have a question, or need to make sense of something, I know I can goto my Father unabashedly and unashamed. I may not get my answer, but I know that as a child of God, there is nothing hidden from his eyes. He already knows my heart, my doubts, my desires, and He knows just what I need to pull through..

God is well aware of all the shortcomings of old, and the wonderful new ones I have yet to meet. Simply said, He knows my end from the beginning and even if the middle is a little messy, its OK. Because He does promise to work it all together for my good, in the end....

But what about now?

Good question, I'm glad you asked.

Beautiful One, if we question God, and the mountain does not move, or the thorn stays in the flesh, or we spend a season in Hell, the one thing we can count on is this. We will have all the strength and grace to pull us through.

Isn't it funny that God allowed Danial to be thrown into the lions den? He allowed Shadrack, Meshech and Abendigo to fall into flames. Lazarus was dying and Jesus waited 3 days to start his journey to him. All of these circumstances could've been prevented. God is God. With one word dispatched out of heaven things could've changed. But they didn't.

God allowed them to happen.

Why? Because God does not get glory from what doesn't happen.

Only when something happens does He receive all glory and honor. Only when everyone saw Lazarus die, could people know that Jesus truly was the King when he called his stinking body out of the grave. Only when those three boys we're thrown into a furnace, and people beheld a fourth man walking through the fire with them, and not one of them was burned did God receive the glory. Only when a hungry lions mouth was kept shut and didn't tear Daniel to pieces did God receive the glory..

God couldve spared all of them the problem, but look at how much purpose, glory and honor came from them. Kings bowed down, religious repented and sinners belived. And the ones who had faced the circumstances came through it all with a stronger, immovable faith and love for God...

Beautiful One, God is not the author of evil, but He will use it. Try not to beat yourself up during hard times. Just be real. Just be you. Dont worry if your pain goes public and people see you flailing around. Just remember that the more pain you face, the greater the purpose that will come from it. The greater the trouble, the greater degree of triumph you will have. And, the greater number of people will be able to say, surely there is a God in Heaven who was on your side.....

And, may He receive all that is due him in the process...

Beautiful One, just believe, you're almost there!

Shannon Heiden
[email protected]
changingonelifereachingmany.typepad.com

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