I love answered prayer. Can I get an Amen?
It is my privilege to go before my God and lay my burdens at his feet. He WANTS this from me, and as I've been learning of late, suffering is merely a tool he uses to draw me to Him. When I view my struggles in this light, it changes my perspective.
Life is not without struggles. As a Christian, I would be naive to assume otherwise. Struggles WILL come, and I should prepare accordingly. Why then, do we act surprised when they come? We all do it- act shocked when something difficult comes down the pipes.
Back in the fall, I'd been having regular headaches. It finally became enough of an issue that I sought medical advice. First thing the Doctor did was prescribe an MRI. My thoughts went from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds flat. Imagine all the "what ifs" that run through one's mind. After scheduling the MRI, I had a few days to prepare mentally and spiritually. It's not my intention to bore you with the details of my worry and concern prior to and following the MRI. What I want to do is make sure you understand the absolute peace I had while in the machine. If you've never had the horror (and I do mean this truly) of being encapsulated in a large machine, having to remain perfectly still, while enduring LOUD banging noises for 40 minutes, you'll understand why being at peace was an answered prayer.
That's right. Peace. Friends and family were covering me in prayer, and had sent me valuable scripture to comfort me. I held onto those words of truth like a lifeline while in the machine. Only my thoughts and my God were present in those 40 minutes, without which, I would have not endured. In the change room afterwards, I broke down and cried; a huge weight lifted.
The true test of patience and trust came in waiting for the results. Prayer, prayer and more prayer, the only thing I could do and control.
Turns out, the results were "normal" except for a little shadow on my skull. The Doctor suggested I see a neurologist to better understand the results and to ask about the headaches. Deep down inside, I knew it would be fine. He had already demonstrated to me that this entire scenario was not about my headaches, but about being drawn to Him. Sure enough, the neurologist said nothing further was necessary.
The headaches by the way, simply went away shortly after the New Year. Coincidence?
In a separate issue, we've been praying for a church like the one we attended previously, for the last year and a half. In Canada, we were beyond blessed with a church that was vertical- meaning their priority was to lead people to an encounter with Jesus. All the horizontal "stuff" was secondary to that single purpose. That hasn't been the case in our church shopping here. So we pray, and pray some more for God to do a mighty work in this area. All we want is more of Him; not more programs or funnier sermons, or better choices of coffee. Him.
Out of the blue last week, we get a call from a Pastor (Matt) out of Philadelphia (part of the same church fellowship we attended in Canada) who had a visit with our former Pastor. This prompted his call. Pastor Matt couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier, but wants to be praying with us, that God would call up other couples who are hungry for more of Him and want to see His church built in this area. Talk about being floored. God is at work, and doing something mighty, right here in our midst.
Being a part of, and witness to, answered prayer is more than it appears on the surface. Yes, I can tick off a box in my prayer journal. More importantly, is that I am renewed with a sense of faith, and hope in a perfect God who loves even ME. That he would concern himself with an MRI and our desire to plant a church, is proof that no detail or prayer is too small.
So here's to praying, and to seeing those prayers answered. If you need anything prayed for, it would be my privilege to do so. You can email me at nogreaterlove@optimum.net
