PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• This morning, I want you to get inside your head and read the following words with the voice of a cheesy TV commercial narrator:
Does your life feel like it’s spinning out of control? Do you wish things would just calm down for a minute? Do you feel obligated to solve the world’s problems but you don’t know where to start? Well then, I have the solution for you!
Okay… goofy, I know. And I’m only two cups of coffee into the day! I’ve got a ways to go… there really is a solution—His name is Jesus. But even when we have a personal relationship with Him, those other questions still linger. Trusting in Him doesn’t mean all those problems go away.
The truth is, even if we are a Christian, most of us want the easy and quick solution. We want those magic fixes that, at the snap of our fingers, make everything better. We want (dare I say it?) the Instagram-worthy, perfect life. I mean social media influencers have it, right?? Why not us?? (Please tell me you read those rhetorical questions with the total sarcasm they deserved!)
Heaven knows I’d love a fast solution. I have a stack of prayer journals that are full of requests I have the answer for if only God would do things my way.
I hope you winced at that. Because therein lies the whole crux of the problem. Ever since the Garden of Eden, mankind has wanted things to be done “my” way. We think we know best. And when we think we know more than God, we reach for the fruit and a whole world of problems begins.
God said, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV).
As I’ve grown in my faith, I understand this more and more. And just as importantly, the more I understand it, the more I appreciate it. Because if God did things “my” way, there’d be a big ‘ole mess to contend with. I can mentally lay out all the solutions, complete with diagrams and story boards. I can triple check that every i is dotted and every t is crossed. And it will never measure up to God’s plan. But knowing it and appreciating it doesn’t mean I don’t still try to offer my input.
Moreover, if God fixed everything right now—what would be the point of heaven? Mankind had a chance at utopia! Adam and Eve messed it up. But even if they hadn’t, someone else probably would have. And as inconceivable as it may seem, what if generation after generation had lived in perfect utopia in the Garden of Eden? And then—we were born. It could have even been you or me to make the mess for all of humanity! I have a paper towel laying in my living room floor this very moment because I spill things. I know how capable I am of making a mess! So this isn’t about finger pointing back to Adam and Eve. It’s about acknowledging the truth that we are not God, we don’t think the way God does, and ultimately, God’s plans will always be better than ours.
It’s something to stand in awe over. Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (ESV). Indeed. How true.
With all that said, it’s an exercise in both trust and patience. It’s a lesson in humility. It boils down to surrendering our wills and holding His as more precious than ours. When we do those things— we can come back full circle to our original TV commercial questions—and know that He has all the answers and one day, He will make everything all better.
Today, as you pray, thank God for having it all figured out. Thank Him that because of Jesus, we have the Answer! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be obedient, to surrender your will, and trust in God’s bigger and better picture.
