Happy October! I LOVE this time of year. Cooler weather and holiday time makes me quite happy! As we journey into the end of 2019, reflect on all that has happened in the past 9 months. Where have you seen God? How has He shown Himself to you? Soon, new year’s resolutions will be made with much anticipated hope for a better year. Thankfully we don’t have to wait for a new year. We can start today. Let’s end the year with full hearts. Hearts that are engaged with God where we respond to what He has shown us.
God is present in our lives and He makes Himself accessible in intimate ways. One way is through prayer. Because of Jesus, we can approach His throne boldly to receive mercy and grace. Read Hebrews 4:16. Adam talking with God in the Garden is a perfect example of prayer. Simple, honest and real. God wants nothing more than for His children to come to Him for all their needs. Unfortunately, we get distracted by our own desires that we neglect this gift that we so desperately need to open and capitalize on.
I am a Martha more than a Mary which means I get distracted easily. My eyes focus on the tending to my home and the needs of my family before talking with God. But this isn’t o.k. with God. He desires intimacy. He uses the very things that distract us to get us to stop and look up. On one particular day, God used a trivial moment to reveal to me how He desires to converse with me moment-by-moment.
Back when hand-held games were popular, I had the Wheel of Fortune game. It was fun to see how high of a score I could get. When my mom would visit, she would play my game so for Christmas she received her own. I happened to obtain a very high score and I figured I may have reached my limit. My mom was impressed on how high of a score I had received and she figured she would never achieve that level. When my mom returned home, she would call me and tell me how high she would get. We enjoyed encouraging each other. One day she called and said that she beat my high score! I couldn’t believe it nor could she. We laughed about it and shared a great memory together.
We all probably agree that this bantering of scores is fun and trivial. But it turned into so much more. After hanging up, I went about my day and thought about if it’s possible to get a higher score. I sat down and played to see if I could really beat her new high score. As I was playing, I thought to myself, “I should pray about getting a higher score.” I pondered that for a moment but quickly rationalized, “Carol, don’t be so silly! God wouldn’t answer a prayer like that. It’s a game!”
Silly me for downplaying our Sovereign God. God used an ordinary, simple moment and changed my thinking. I played a round and I was able to beat my mom’s already high score! I couldn’t believe it! God heard me. I felt a nudge in my spirit, “See”. Of course, I had to call her and tell her what happened. Amidst our bonding moments, we have a God that hears and sees us. He uses all things to lead us to a place where we will know without a shadow of a doubt that He is with us, like Wheel of Fortune.
God is faithful to meet us in ways that we will recognize. He understands our wiring which makes Him a perfect God to follow. He is trustworthy and caring. This answering of my prayer has paved the way for me to talk with Him often. I’ve become more like Mary which means sitting at His feet has become my favorite place. He helps me to crave Him more and more by teaching me who He is through His word which is active and alive!
Like Adam, we can approach God in a simple, honest and real way. Even in our doubts He receives us. Anger doesn’t deter Him. If we truly understood the love that He has for us, we would run to Him. There would be no distance between a Father and His child. All there would be is unity. And this unity would spill out onto those around us. We would be united in love. For this to happen, we need to put aside our Martha tendencies and live like Mary. Once this happens then we are able to live like Adam in the Garden before sin tripped us all up, walking with God without a care in the world. We would be images of the greatest love story ever told.
As we go about our days, we don’t want to miss out on what God has for us. Let’s tune our ears and hearts towards Him. Let’s end 2019 in such a way where we are fully awake to His calling! Can you imagine what He has for us? I would love to hear what He is telling you so please share. You will inspire the rest of us! Happy Tuesday 🙂
Carol J German 