Plan A: Have Faith, Plan B: Take Control

Have you ever had your heart set on something, and then find out that you couldn't have it? Have you had "faith" but then thought about what you're going to do in case things fall through? Have you ever lost control over your entire situation and wonder what the heck you're gonna do, now? Have you prayed REALLY hard for something and heard NOTHING?

Sometimes we pray for things that God has already answered. God does call us to "pray and petition" and to "make our requests known" but we have to do our part and open our eyes to see when they are answered and how they are being answered. Sometimes we think we have FAITH, but that's because we still have some control.

You may have heard people say, "God always answers, it's either yes, no, or wait." Through the process of finding a place to live- that I blogged about a few weeks ago, I have learned to have faith. I'm reading a book called "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore, about giving up strongholds in our life. The second chapter was on Disbelief. Not disbelieving IN Him, but disbelieving Him in general. In my scenario, I was disbelieving that God had it under control. I believe Him to be SO great and SO powerful- the creator, the King, the Savior.. but when it came down to my personal need, I doubted he CARED.

I also questioned my prayer life and the answers I thought I was hearing. I prayed for my choice to be EASY, but sometimes God does not answer according to OUR will, but to His will. I prayed for a QUICK answer, but sometimes God's perfect timing is not according to OUR timing. I prayed for FAITH, but instead I gave up. I called it "faith" in waiting, but in my mind I had been thinking of how I could control the situation with Plan B, C, and D.

At Charlotte One, we were learning about prayer. We went opened our Bibles up to the Lord's Prayer. I thought I had learned everything you could know about prayer. I mean, I pray a lot. I know the concept, I know the style, I know we are supposed to ask, and we are supposed to listen, I know how to give thanks and praise, I pray for others, my leaders, my family, etc. BUT we started talking about boldness in prayer. We talked about asking for GREAT things from a GREAT God. We talked about who HE is in comparison to the things we ask for. We are talking to the God who can give us the power to move mountains, and we think he can't handle our small stuff. I also learned that in all prayers, we are to say "Hallowed be Thy name", or to basically say, no matter what the result, my God is still mighty, still Holy, still omnipotent, and His will (which is better than our's) will still be done.

At church we sang a song, and I know this sounds stupid, but we sang lyrics that said "...He ALONE is worthy..." and all I kept hearing was "a LOAN." That put a smile on my face because I really felt like God was humorously reminding me He knew and heard my request. I find it easy to have "faith" when signs point to "yes", BUT the moment things start to spiral out of MY control, and it looks as if owning a home is hopeless, I wanted to give up, quit praying, and cop out because it wasn't EASY anymore. I laughed at how I thought a "miracle" would happen, I still feel "embarrassed" at how I thought God would use this as a "testimony of faith"... my prayers weren't answered in my time, under my control, and I thought God had already given me my answer, and the answer was "NO."

But the answer wasn't "no", it was "WAIT". Here I was, praying that I would have FAITH, but really, I was hoping that I would have CONTROL. God wanted me to get to the end of my rope, the end of my vision, he wanted me to think that there was NO way, and then make a way. He didn't want me to see MY way and fall back on my own plans and my own will, he wanted me to GIVE UP my control ENTIRELY. And there lies Faith. Faith is not always hoping for what you want, but believing that God will take care of you no matter what.

There have been countless times that God has shown His greatness in his Word. He brings life from the dead, birth from the barren, feast from the famine, leaps from the lame, sight from the blind, etc. I bet many of the Disciples watched Jesus hang on the cross, and almost EXPECT him to break free, to not completely die, to strike down all of his enemies... but he didn't. He died, stayed buried for three whole days, and then rose! How much greater did their faith become, when they had to BELIEVE he would return, rather than hope he would never face the grave. I think we find TRUE faith when we have no answers, feel as if God doesn't hear our prayers anymore, and feel completely out of control of our situation.

My loan ended up going through- with the help of my dad and through lots of PRAYER. Keep praying with BOLDNESS to a MIGHTY God who can do MORE than MIGHTY things. Let go of your control and find FAITH that God is GOOD and will take care of you no matter what! Believe that God's BLESSINGS are BETTER than our requests! And even when you think there is NO way, let Him be your Way-Maker. I am so thankful!!