PRAYER PROMPT ••• If I refer to the “Circle of Life,” you may immediately begin humming the song from “The Lion King,” and picture Simba being lifted in the air.
There’s truth in that phrase – there is a circle of life.
The spring arrives every year, followed by summer, fall, then winter.
The sun rises.
The sun sets.
Then it does it again.
There’s a pattern and predictability to life.
Humans are no different.
As I was visiting my son yesterday, it hit me: my Mom and Mamo are right – he’s as impulsive and stubborn as I was at 19.
He’s no different than me and I’m no different than the generations before me!
People have been the same since sin first entered the world.
All that really changes are the styles and the music.
We are naturally headstrong, willful, and like a petulant five-year-old, “We want to do it all by ourselves!” (as we stamp our feet and cross our arms!)
In Isaiah 22:11, it says, “You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.”
I can sum it up in a nutshell — we like to do things the hard way.
How often do we struggle, strain, push, pull, twist, and turn — trying to do something?
And at what point do we turn to God for help?
I imagine Him in heaven, face-palming Himself from sheer frustration at our obstinance.
The Bible tells us repeatedly that God wants us to turn to Him (Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7; John 14:16; to list a few)!
He wants to help us!
But He’s not going to force Himself on us if we’re determined to act on our own (remember that free will / choice He gave us??).
Whether you’re five, 19, or 99 – God wants to be with us in the full circle… in the highs, as well as the lows.
Today, as you pray, ask God to help you through all of it.
Ask Him to remove stubborn pride that prevents you from asking.
And ask Him to remind your heart frequently to call on Him, not just in the bad times, but the good as well.
