Tuesday, February 9, 2016

A Contract for Presumption

You would not think that a person who has been a believer as long as I have, would need to learn what faith or trust mean.  But my understanding is still deepening and sometimes I have to relearn the basics of trust.  Twice lately, WALMART has taught me a deep lesson.  I am not able to walk hardly any distance at all right now due to the fact that my ankles are bone on bone, the joints having been destroyed by Psoriatic Arthritis.  And there have been many times that Walmart has not had a scooter available.  The last two times I prayed that God would provide a scooter....And both times, I got the last one available.  There have been times when due to a dying battery, I would make it to the back of the store and the thing would give up the ghost entirely and I would be stuck with a half full basket of groceries a long way from the front of the store where the carts are stored....and then would have to finish on foot.

Well, now, that is no longer an option.  I canNOT make it "on foot" so it is critical that my battery survive.  On both occasions, the scooter started out slowly, reluctantly and I feared it would not even get me to the back of the store.  Yesterday I prayed and I asked God to please keep the scooter running.  As the scooter slowed my prayers became more desperate---and the thought occurred to me like a bolt of lightening.  "Did not God provide you with this specific scooter?"  "Do you think he would give you a scooter that would leave you stranded?"  "Do  you believe in his answer to your prayer or not?" "MAYBE what you need is to simply believe  that he has and is answering your prayer !"  So I did.  I made a conscious decision to trust in God's provision.  And do you know that gradually the scooter picked up speed and by the time I got to the back of the store it was going as fast as my friend who had joined me could walk.

I  thought about this experience this morning.  I have some bills that are scary high...and  absolutely no means to pay them.  So as I called the creditors this morning, I prayed.  And God did not immediately provide me with a solution.  But I know he will.  I simply have to decide to trust him.   He gave me the verse this morning that was God's words to the Israelites on their flight from Egypt.  "These Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.  You do not have to fight this battle; God will fight for you. Stand back and watch the salvation of the Lord"

Stand back and watch.
And I would add: believe. 

I do not know how he is going to answer my prayers...but I KNOW he will.  I need to keep my mind in the frame of trust.  Do not pick up the worry bone again. (You know how a dog "worries" a bone?)  Stand back and watch him work!  And doubts still try to awaken.  "Maybe you are being presumptuous."  I'm a child in need going to my Father in search of something I need.  Is that presumptuous? Probably it is.  But  you know what? It is in every child's "contract" with their parents...to be presumptuous.  A child can do nothing to meet their own needs.  They cannot drive themselves to work every day to earn their upkeep. No. They must simply presume that their parents will give them what they need.  Even now,as an adult, I have presumed upon my parents.  And because I am loved, I have my needs met.

Need I say any more?
Need I doubt any more?

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