Daily Delight
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
I used to think God was my life manager. Like an apartment manager, only He manages every aspect of my life. So my prayer life reflected this idea. I made a list of things I wanted God to fix and offered them up to Him daily.When I miscarried for a second time, everything that could possibly go wrong did. I was so angry. Why didn’t He fix anything? Did He even hear my prayers? Did He even care?I stopped praying. Completely. What was the point? He obviously had a plan and He was going to do what He was going to do regardless of my prayers. Am I right, or am I right?To some extent that is true. God is working out His plan. He is yesterday, today and tomorrow. He does everything for a reason: for His glory. So how does my nearly bleeding to death glorify Him? Only He knows.But I think now, that it was part of His sanctifying work in me. Because I learned a very important truth when I walked through that spiritual desert.Prayer is not for Him. He knows. He knows everything. Prayer is for me. I need prayer to remind me that I am sinful. I need to repent. I need forgiveness. And He can only forgive me because of Christ’s saving work on the cross, so I need to be thankful. I owe Him my praise. Not my anger.“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18, NIV).Fix your eyes on Jesus because all that really matters is that you are saved, you are loved, and you are forgiven. Praise God!
About the Author
Stephanie Cardel
Stephanie Cardel is a wife of thirty years, mother of three grown children, leader of Bible studies, and writer of a blog about Jesus in the Old Testament. She also writes YA and MG fiction and volunteers in her local public schools teaching abstinence.If you need her, you can dig your way through the overflowing piles of books to her room, where she’ll be curled up with a cup of mocha coffee doing one of three things: studying her Bible, reading fiction, or writing. You can also visit her websites:www.withopenedeyes.com, www.checkoutthesebooks.com, or follow her on twitter @StephanieCardel or @fixingmyeyes.
