Right after I posted last week’s blog about the reality of troubles and God’s omnipresence, I read the devotional for May 30th in my Experiencing God Day by Day and found the first line surprising.
The author writes, “Some feel that they demonstrate great faith by continually asking God for miracles.” What was wrong with that? I wondered.
But it’s not the asking that’s the issue. It’s the heart behind the asking. Blackaby says the problem is not about laying the needs before God, because God says to bring everything to Him (Phil. 4:6), but in “presuming” that he wants to “heal anyone who is sick or provide a miraculous escape from every difficulty.” He recounts Jesus’s condemnation of those who “insisted” Jesus perform miracles, knowing that in their hearts their faith relied on the acts and not the person. And then he made a convicting statement.
“There are times when we prefer the miracle over the miracle worker.” Now that hit home.
I know I am guilty of that many times over. I want the healing or the escape or the answer and then I will offer my praise and thanks.
Blackaby reminds his readers that Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego made the following declaration before king Nebuchadnezzar right before they were thrown into the fiery furnace. They said, “Our God who we serve is able to deliver us . . . But if not . . . .”
They didn’t need God’s miracle to affirm their faith. “They trusted Him so completely that they did not ask to be spared.” They knew He would if that was His will.
Philippians 4:6 tells us to place our concerns before God, but that is in the context of relieving our worry, demonstrating our faith, and living the day. It is to remind ourselves that God is ultimately in control. Our faith is in the God who can and not dependent on the answer.
Sam and Becca Mizell wrote a wonderful song called “More than Anything.” Natalie Grant heard it after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. (You can read the entire story behind the song here: More Than Anything)
I have also attached the song for your enjoyment. I might have shared it before, but it is always worth reminding ourselves of what, or rather who, is most important.
The author writes, “Some feel that they demonstrate great faith by continually asking God for miracles.” What was wrong with that? I wondered.
But it’s not the asking that’s the issue. It’s the heart behind the asking. Blackaby says the problem is not about laying the needs before God, because God says to bring everything to Him (Phil. 4:6), but in “presuming” that he wants to “heal anyone who is sick or provide a miraculous escape from every difficulty.” He recounts Jesus’s condemnation of those who “insisted” Jesus perform miracles, knowing that in their hearts their faith relied on the acts and not the person. And then he made a convicting statement.
“There are times when we prefer the miracle over the miracle worker.” Now that hit home.
I know I am guilty of that many times over. I want the healing or the escape or the answer and then I will offer my praise and thanks.
Blackaby reminds his readers that Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego made the following declaration before king Nebuchadnezzar right before they were thrown into the fiery furnace. They said, “Our God who we serve is able to deliver us . . . But if not . . . .”
They didn’t need God’s miracle to affirm their faith. “They trusted Him so completely that they did not ask to be spared.” They knew He would if that was His will.
Philippians 4:6 tells us to place our concerns before God, but that is in the context of relieving our worry, demonstrating our faith, and living the day. It is to remind ourselves that God is ultimately in control. Our faith is in the God who can and not dependent on the answer.
Sam and Becca Mizell wrote a wonderful song called “More than Anything.” Natalie Grant heard it after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. (You can read the entire story behind the song here: More Than Anything)
I have also attached the song for your enjoyment. I might have shared it before, but it is always worth reminding ourselves of what, or rather who, is most important.
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