The spring air, flowers, sunshine, grass, ducks, fertilizer... ok, everything about spring makes me SMILE! I love outside and being cooped up all winter has me feeling all kinds of stir-crazy. Not only was I stir-crazy, but discontentment was raising up inside of me regarding the "stay at home" nature of my job. I often found myself lying in bed listening to my 1-year-old whine in her crib and I thought, "What are we going to do today?". And that question wasn't a thought-provoking question, it was a bitter-filled, hypothetical question that I thought had no answer because I had irrationally determined that we could do nothing different from the last 100 days of winter we had endured! Everything seemed so monotonous and every day of bitterness dragged me deeper into an unsatisfied life. Don't get me wrong, I love my baby girl and love being her main caregiver, but PHEW I was stuck in a rut of self-pity in what my days did or did not consist of. However, this blog post is not about how to be a good mom with a good attitude, it is about how God answers prayers. By the grace of God, His presence in my life prompted me to pray to Him. I prayed that I would be a mom that glorifies Him by being a mom with joy and that He would give me the wisdom to do it along the way. Although I did not receive an immediate change in attitude, I did see His answer to me in time.. an answer that I am quite sure I will have to receive many times.
God's word reveals to us that as believers He is working for our good in every hard or easy situation, in all things. (Romans 8:28) As I was stuck in bitterness and cried out to the Lord, I was nudged by several different sources and events to look at my situation through the eyes of the Lord and not my own. The eyes of the Lord, as revealed in the Bible, tell me that difficult circumstances produce character and hope in a Christian's life, we are not overcome by them (Romans 5:3-5). So believe it or not, I believe God ordained not only my original bitter circumstance, but He kept piling other unexpected difficulties on top of it as well. Not to get into too many details, but I had multiple physical ailments all at once and also two deaths of an acquaintance and a friend's mom happen near the same time. All of these served as "wake up calls" for me and an answer to prayer. While some might attribute this to circumstance, God's Word assures me that it was all from His sovereign, good, Fatherly hand. These "wake up calls" served to teach me everything from what a joy and privilege it is to be a mom (even during winter) through a faithful, servant-hearted mother's funeral, to meeting my trials with joy and a willing spirit so that the Lord can produce wisdom in me and a steadfastness in my faith. (James 1:2-4). These piled-on inconveniences served to restore my joy and gratitude for all the blessings I have in this life through motherhood but ultimately through the care and love that my Heavenly Father has for me through Jesus Christ.
When we pray to our Sovereign Lord, Creator, Perfect Life Planner, and Loving Father... He will give us an answer even if it is not in the "form" of answer we may expect because His ways are so much higher than ours. (Psalm 139:6, Romans 11:33-34) Our God works in ways that best answer our personal need, even if we do not see the answer right away or ever, in fact. Paul Tripp says it well in his devotional, New Morning Mercies:
"Perhaps our problem is our definition and expectation of God's care. You see, God's care comes in a variety of packages. His care is not always a cool drink and a soft pillow. God's care is not always relief from circumstances, release from trouble. There are many moments in our lives when the very thing that causes us to wonder about God's care is his care. He knows that trouble will reveal our hearts or display His Glory. Often trouble is a tool of care in the hands of the One who knows best what we need. He cares; therefore, make sure your definition of his care is not too narrow."
So as I continue to meet hardship in my life, could it in fact be an answer to my prayers? If we let the Word of God renew our minds we will have a worldview that expects hardship and embraces it with hope knowing that Our Loving God is caring for us through all things. With this worldview we will have peace amidst any situation. My loving Father did not give me hardships so that I would be downcast in this life, but I can see how He wanted these hardships specifically for me so that He could produce a new trust in Him and character in me that endures with joy through difficult circumstances for His Glory. The greatest suffering on earth endured by our Lord Jesus Christ led to the answered prayer of many who desire to be in relationship with God. (1 Peter 3:18) So Christians, let us "entrust ourselves to the one who judges justly", the one who is always working for our good as we endure the suffering that will inevitably enter our lives. (1 Peter 2:23)
Additional Scripture on Suffering:
Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
James 1:2-4 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Psalm 34: 4 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed."
Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."
1 Peter 2: 21-25 "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example , so that you might follow his steps. He committee no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live in righteousness. By His wounds we have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
...and all the while, you hear each spoken need, you love us way too much....to give us lesser things.
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