One day about a month ago
I got a letter in the mail from the insurance company, saying they weren’t
going to insure my house anymore because of the roof. As you can imagine, I was
horrified. I prayed, but as the weeks passed and there was one delay after
another, I got impatient with the Lord.
My “Imp”-patience let the
imps into my situation and messed with my head. I was very bothered by this
whole thing and worried that the insurance company was going to drop me. I let
my mind get all wrapped up around this thing and I had lost my trust in the
Lord, until one morning.
I was reading 2 Timothy 2:26
that says, “They may recover [awake] themselves out of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him at his will,” and I said, “That’s me! I need to
wake up!” I realized that after I’d prayed about the roof situation, I let
circumstances of delay get in the way and I took the problem back on myself.
Instantly I got the
picture in my mind of a little girl who had been horribly abused. She didn’t
have the means to fight back. She was scared and had no idea what to do. Jesus took
her hand and gently led her to safety, and away from the trauma. She went with
Him. She knew to trust Him.
In that moment I knew to
trust Him entirely too. I let go of all my consternation. I believed in the
depth of my heart that even if they dropped my insurance, it would still work
out the best for me somehow. I was able to release all my worry.
I was able to patiently wait
and only do what the Lord Jesus told me to do and I was amazingly worry-free. Finally,
my local insurance lady called me to tell me she could see on the computer that
they were going to renew my insurance.
Once I released my anxiety
and impatience about the insurance, to the Lord, the devil tried to throw
several smaller worry “hooks” my way. But I wasn’t biting.
Now I pray, stay calm and
patiently wait on the Lord and I trust Him because I believe He really does
love me.
One time Daniel in the
Bible was waiting for an answer to prayer and he was getting anxious like we do
sometimes. When the answer came, the angel who happened to be bringing the
answer, told Daniel that he had been delayed because of some very strong devil
spirit in the area of Persia, “but Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial]
princes, came to help me” (Dan. 10:13).
Did you ever think about
the fact that the good angels bringing our answers can get delayed in battles
with evil spirits who don’t want us to get our deliverance, or our healing or
whatever it is that we are praying for? That’s another great reason to have a
little patience.
Anxiety only makes bad things happen to our
minds, our emotions, and our bodies as well. I’ve recently added Philippians
4:6-7 to the verses I say in the morning: “Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The Amplified Bible
has an extended translation of these verses that is pretty awesome:
“Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything
[every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which
reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that
peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is
yours].”
Lazarus’ sisters got very anxious and disturbed
when Jesus didn’t come immediately to answer their prayers about their brother.
Not only did Jesus not come right away, but in those days of waiting, Lazarus died.
But Jesus was not being lax. He was just doing as His Father God was showing
Him to do.
Sometimes
Jesus doesn’t seem to show up to give us our answers either, but it doesn’t
mean He’s not concerned. We still need to trust Him. When Jesus did come, not
only did Lazarus come alive again, but it was a spectacular witness to some of
the unbelieving Jews that were there. “He that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a
napkin. Jesus saith unto them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’ Then many of
the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed
on him” (John 11:44-45).
I think that a lot of
times the Lord just wants us to slow down our own bravado and let Him work.
When we slow down our own works, he shows us His marvelous works, which also to
build our trust in Him even more.
I love the record of Jehoshaphat
in Second Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat was about to be attacked by three nations
at once. He prayed, “O our God, we have no might against this great company that
cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee (vs.
12). The word from God was, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set
yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you” (vs.17).
Verse 22 tells us the people began to sing and praise, because they honestly
trusted it would work out. We definitely need to do that more: sing and praise
before we see the final result, just because we totally put our trust in HIM.
God worked an amazing
miracle. The three nations began to fight each other, “And when Judah came
toward the watchtower, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth and
none escaped” (vs.24). Not only was there no threat anymore, but for some reason
the enemy brought lots of rich treasure with them to the battle and guess who
got the treasures? That’s right, God’s people who trusted Him.
Let’s not get
impatient, but be more like those who sing and praise even before the results
are final, because we totally obey and trust the Lord.
Love, Carolyn
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