In a previous blog I mentioned having to ask God to forgive me for my "unbelief". Another time (although I didn't suffer from "unbelief") I spent time struggling with my problem BEFORE finally turning to God in prayer.
Well, I have another "cooler" story and this time I didn't make any of my previous mistakes. I had run by Kroger one Saturday morning to pick up drinks and snacks for my son's soccer team. I filled my small cooler with my purchases and topped it off with ice. This time I was in a big Dodge Ram truck. I realized that I was going to have to lift the now heavy cooler quite a ways off the ground to get it into the back seat and the arthritis in my hands and wrists would make this difficult for me. A drizzling rain had just begun. My struggle with the large cooler several years before and how God answered my prayer immediately sprang to mind. I laughed out loud and said, "OK Lord, here we go again. I have to get this cooler in my truck and I am going to need you to help me." I didn't waste time trying to solve my problem using my own strength. I went straight to Him first, fully believing he would help me the same as he did the last time. I actually managed to get the cooler about halfway up when I started to struggle. I was trying to get my knee under the cooler when I heard a woman from behind ask me, "Can I help you?" I turned around and saw a woman that I had passed as I went to my truck with my purchases. She was parked closer to the store entrance and was several parking spaces away from me.
I said yes, that I needed to get the cooler in the back seat and my hands were giving me trouble. She was younger and stronger than me and lifted it into the truck in one easy movement. I thanked her and she quickly went back to her car.
A woman I did not know, who had her own groceries to load in her car, went out of her way to approach me in the rain and offer to help me. She could have easily gotten into her own car and driven off without giving me a second thought, but she didn't. A coincidence? No. God is amazing!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
What is Faith?
Dictionary.com defines faith as follows...
noun
noun
1.
confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2.
belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3.
4.
belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5.
a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, doubted that Jesus really rose from the dead and insisted on seeing for himself the holes in Jesus' hands and side. The disciples even fed Him fish to prove He wasn't a ghost. Only then did Thomas say to Him, "My Lord, My God!"
In the book of John, chapter 20, verse 29, Jesus responded to Thomas saying, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."
Previously I shared a story of my own "unbelief" even though I am a believer. I have a simliar story that occurred after the "Cosmo" incident. There was no unbelief this time...but I still attempted to solve my problem using my own strength, literally, before turning it over to Him and admitting that I could NOT do it without His help.
The summer following Emma's Kindergarten year, one of the Mom's suggested we meet in Galveston for a "reunion." It was such a great group of kids and the majority of the Moms had worked extremely well together and made genuine friends and we did not want it to end. So we headed to Galveston for two days of fun and fellowship. I put a large cooler in the back of my Toyota Sequoia and filled it with food and drinks. I stopped on our way to Galveston and added several bags of ice. When we got to the hotel, I was able to unload the cooler even though it was heavy and I sufffer from arthritus in my hands. A hotel employee saw me pulling it and offered to roll it to the pool where we were to meet the other kindergarten families. The next day, we were to check out of the hotel and head down to the beach where we would hang out for the rest of the day. The morning of check out, I replenished the cooler with ice. I had a ground floor room and my SUV was parked close to my hotel room, so I locked my two young children in the room and rolled the cooler to the car. I could NOT lift it in the back of the Toyota. I tried getting it to my knee, hoping I could use my leg to hoist it in, but no luck. After several minutes of struggling, I looked around to see if there was anyone in the parking lot who might help me. I saw a man a little ways off approaching the hotel. He had a briefcase in one hand and a suit bag slung over his shoulder with the other. I took a few steps towards him, trying to decide if I should call out to him to help me. I hesitated a little too long and he was gone. There was no one else in the parking lot. I did not see any of the other Kindergarten moms. I was beginning to feel a little sense of panic as my kids were still in the room and I needed to get back. What was just supposed to take a few minutes was now taking a lot longer. I needed to get that cooler in the car in a hurry! It was at that moment that I prayed. I said, "God, You know exactly how much strength I need to get this cooler in the back of my car. You know I need to get it in the car. I need you to give me that strength now. In Jesus' name, Amen." There was no unbelief this time. I was convinced He would bring me help. As I still did not see anyone who could help me, I gripped the handles with my hands as best I could and tried to lift it one more time. Immediately I had it off the ground, I got my knee under it and hoisted it the rest of the way into the back of the SUV. It didn't take 2 or 3 tries...I got it in the car on my first attempt..AFTER I had prayed.
You may not think that is such a miraculous story. But if you knew me and the trouble I have with my hands, you would understand. A few of the fingers on my right hand are bent in from the arthritus. I have difficulty gripping things and cannot even make a fist anymore. As a result, I do not have the strength in my hands that I once had. Pulling the cooler out of the back had not been as difficult...but lifting a full cooler, loaded with food, drinks and ice for a day at the beach, was impossible for me until my Lord gave me the exact amount of strength I needed and had asked for. I am convinced that if I had pulled that cooler back out of the car, that I would have found myself once again unable to lift it using my strength alone.
Even as believers, I think we often let our "unbelief" sell our Lord short. We think he doesn't have time to worry about a lost stuffed animal in Walmart or getting a cooler in the back of the SUV. But I know He had His hand in both those situations. The question I ask myself now, is why do I spend so much time struggling to solve a problem using my own strength, BEFORE turning it over to Him. Why do I turn to Him as a "last resort?" I am hoping I have learned my lesson and strive to turn to Him FIRST in prayer, then continue on in faith and the knowledge that He is with me no matter how big or small the problem.
Faith
There is a story in Matthew, chapter 9, about a man who brings his son, who was "possessed with a spirit" which "made him mute", to Jesus. The man had previously asked Jesus' disciples to cast it out and they had failed. They brought the boy to Jesus and the boy's father said "if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" "And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe, help my unbelief." Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the boy then "took him by the hand and raised him: and he got up." When the disciples questioned Jesus as to why they were unable to drive it out, he answered them, "This kind (of demon) cannot come out by anything but prayer."
How many times do believers experience this kind of "unbelief" ? I often struggle with believing He can do anything, but will he do it for me?
One day in Walmart, I prayed that God would forgive me for my "unbelief." My daughter, Emma (who was around 4 or 5 at the time) and I had run into Walmart to look for a pumpkin shirt for my son. I normally would never allow her to bring a toy with her into Walmart, but this day she asked if she could bring "Cosmo", a small bluish colored stuffed dog, and I said yes. I was in a hurry and knew I was only going to make one stop in the toddler section to see if they had the shirt I wanted. The shoes were next to the toddler section, so I made a quick run down the girls shoe aisle to see if anything caught my eye for Emma. I remember Emma looking in the mirror at the end of the shoe aisle and said, "Look Momma, there is two of me and two of Cosmo." I quickly made my way to the toddler Halloween shirts, did not find anything, and we headed out the door. Our next stop was Target. When we got out of the car at Target, Emma asked me, "Momma, where's Cosmo?"
Back to Walmart we went. We retraced our exact steps, including the jaunt down the shoe aisle. I spoke to several sales ladies that were working in the area. We checked the return section and the lost and found. We retraced our steps for about the third time and came to a stop at the toddler shirts where we had looked for a shirt for Braden. "Emma," I said, "You are going to have to pray that God will help us find Cosmo." But because that unbelief was in the back of my mind, I added that we may still never find Cosmo, because God may let that be the natural consequence for not keeping better care of him. As she prayed, I prayed also. Just a few weeks prior I had attended a bible study. The subject had been the story in Matthew about the father, his son and his own "unbelief." With that lesson fresh on my mind I prayed, "God, I believe that you can produce Cosmo out of the thin air if you want to, but please forgive me for my unbelief. Please do not punish my little girl for my unbelief." I heard Emma say, "Momma, I'm through praying." Almost instantly, a thought came to me...Cosmo is a stuffed toy...Walmart sells stuffed toys. We had not looked in the toy section. With a sense of purpose I took Emma by the hand and told her that we were going to check the toy department. As we quickly headed down the aisle to the toy section, we started to pass a Walmart manager when he stopped us. (There was absolutely no reason for him to think he needed to stop me...this was God's hand in the situation!!) He asked me if I needed help. I told him our story and he asked to retrace our steps with us even though I explained that we had already done this. He insisted, so we followed. He spoke to the same ladies to whom we had already spoken. We were making another pass by the shoes, on the way to the toys, when he stopped, told us to wait and headed up the shoe aisle to talk to a woman employee we had NOT spoken with before. After a minute of speaking with her, he motioned for me to join him. He asked me to describe to the employee what I was looking for. The words were barely out of my mouth when she reached into a shopping basket, just out of my sight, and pulled out Cosmo!! She had a basket of returns that she was returning to the sales floor. She had found Cosmo, and thinking he was a Walmart toy, she put him in her basket to return to the toy section.
Emma cried tears of joy as she hugged Cosmo. We thanked the manager and the employee who had found Cosmo and headed out. We got as far as the camera section and I stopped Emma. "Emma," I said, "We need to stop right now and give thanks to God." So we both knelt in the aisle, next to the Crayola and Barbie cameras and thanked God for answering our prayers. I did not care who saw or what they thought.
There will be those naysayers who will say it was all a coincidence, but I know better. God forgave my unbelief and he answered the prayer of a little girl who believed. Faith in God and His promises to us is a POWERFUL, POWERFUL thing!!
How many times do believers experience this kind of "unbelief" ? I often struggle with believing He can do anything, but will he do it for me?
One day in Walmart, I prayed that God would forgive me for my "unbelief." My daughter, Emma (who was around 4 or 5 at the time) and I had run into Walmart to look for a pumpkin shirt for my son. I normally would never allow her to bring a toy with her into Walmart, but this day she asked if she could bring "Cosmo", a small bluish colored stuffed dog, and I said yes. I was in a hurry and knew I was only going to make one stop in the toddler section to see if they had the shirt I wanted. The shoes were next to the toddler section, so I made a quick run down the girls shoe aisle to see if anything caught my eye for Emma. I remember Emma looking in the mirror at the end of the shoe aisle and said, "Look Momma, there is two of me and two of Cosmo." I quickly made my way to the toddler Halloween shirts, did not find anything, and we headed out the door. Our next stop was Target. When we got out of the car at Target, Emma asked me, "Momma, where's Cosmo?"
Back to Walmart we went. We retraced our exact steps, including the jaunt down the shoe aisle. I spoke to several sales ladies that were working in the area. We checked the return section and the lost and found. We retraced our steps for about the third time and came to a stop at the toddler shirts where we had looked for a shirt for Braden. "Emma," I said, "You are going to have to pray that God will help us find Cosmo." But because that unbelief was in the back of my mind, I added that we may still never find Cosmo, because God may let that be the natural consequence for not keeping better care of him. As she prayed, I prayed also. Just a few weeks prior I had attended a bible study. The subject had been the story in Matthew about the father, his son and his own "unbelief." With that lesson fresh on my mind I prayed, "God, I believe that you can produce Cosmo out of the thin air if you want to, but please forgive me for my unbelief. Please do not punish my little girl for my unbelief." I heard Emma say, "Momma, I'm through praying." Almost instantly, a thought came to me...Cosmo is a stuffed toy...Walmart sells stuffed toys. We had not looked in the toy section. With a sense of purpose I took Emma by the hand and told her that we were going to check the toy department. As we quickly headed down the aisle to the toy section, we started to pass a Walmart manager when he stopped us. (There was absolutely no reason for him to think he needed to stop me...this was God's hand in the situation!!) He asked me if I needed help. I told him our story and he asked to retrace our steps with us even though I explained that we had already done this. He insisted, so we followed. He spoke to the same ladies to whom we had already spoken. We were making another pass by the shoes, on the way to the toys, when he stopped, told us to wait and headed up the shoe aisle to talk to a woman employee we had NOT spoken with before. After a minute of speaking with her, he motioned for me to join him. He asked me to describe to the employee what I was looking for. The words were barely out of my mouth when she reached into a shopping basket, just out of my sight, and pulled out Cosmo!! She had a basket of returns that she was returning to the sales floor. She had found Cosmo, and thinking he was a Walmart toy, she put him in her basket to return to the toy section.
Emma cried tears of joy as she hugged Cosmo. We thanked the manager and the employee who had found Cosmo and headed out. We got as far as the camera section and I stopped Emma. "Emma," I said, "We need to stop right now and give thanks to God." So we both knelt in the aisle, next to the Crayola and Barbie cameras and thanked God for answering our prayers. I did not care who saw or what they thought.
There will be those naysayers who will say it was all a coincidence, but I know better. God forgave my unbelief and he answered the prayer of a little girl who believed. Faith in God and His promises to us is a POWERFUL, POWERFUL thing!!
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