Reason #926
"Just because God has done nothing doesn't mean He is not going to do something."
- Bobby Dagnel
I stayed up late reading the news last. I don't know about you, but it seems like I know of more bad things that are happening than good. And it's not just the news, either. It's people's lives that are falling apart, and I've heard of more stories of tragic loss, divorce, and devastation that I can count. It's as if I have so many prayer requests to be praying for that I can't remember them all. Heavy things are happening to people at home and people across the globe, and just when I think I've heard the worst thing, I'm surprised by a story that tops it.
You never expect to wake up to the worst day of your life. I mean, who plans for that kind of stuff anyway? You don't expect your spouse to walk out on you. If you expected that kind of behavior, you would have never married them in the first place. But some people wake up to that kind of stuff. You also don't expect to wake up to a phone call informing you that you just lost someone you love dearly. We all know we aren't going to make it out of this life alive, but you just don't expect to get that kind of news...ever. You don't expect to show up to work and get fired. You don't expect for something tragic to happen a few days out from delivering your seemingly perfect, healthy baby. You don't expect to turn on the news and learn of a potential genocide brewing, and you don't expect for people to just shrug their shoulders and half-heartedly mutter, "That's so sad," as if it's really not that big of a deal.
But we do expect God to do something, don't we? We expect Him to act in mighty, big ways. At least, I've been praying that He would. I've been praying He'd pull out some of those Old Testament miracles and do some crazy, amazing things for His people. Yet it seems like even though we plead and we pray and we ask God for big things, bad things happen. It's the age old question of, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Well the easy answer is that we're in a fallen world of free choice. But even then, why doesn't God work and intercede on our behalf to fix those things? Why do marriages fall apart even though that faithful spouse has prayed with every fiber of their being that it would be restored? Why does that person pass away even though we believe with all of our hearts that God would heal them and we asked for it over and over and over again? Why does that baby not make it full term even though the mother has asked the Lord for this miracle since the day she knew it existed? Why do God's people face persecution, torture, and death when they've desperately called out to Him for help and protection? Sometimes we wonder what it is that God is doing, and, if we're being completely honest, sometimes it seems like He is doing nothing.
But God is going to do something. I know that seems like the least comforting statement we can make, but it's true. Just because it appears that God is doing nothing in your current circumstances does not mean that He will not do something. It's just being patient and waiting on that something. That something might be a changed heart and repaired marriage, or it might not be. That something might be healing your heart and giving you a new opportunity. That something might be a miraculous healing, or it might not be. It might be absolute, perfect, complete healing in His presence. That something might be parting the Red Sea, raining down manna from Heaven, pouring water from a rock, or speaking from a burning bush. That something is unpredictable. Unpredictable like sending a tiny baby to be born of a young virgin in a stable because the town had no room for Him. Unpredictable like giving that baby the ability to grow in wisdom and stature and favor so that He would change the course of history by bearing the weight of the world's sins on His shoulders as He died on a cross for you and for me. God will do something.
It seems like nothing because we just can't imagine it. We can only think up so many things that God might do and when He doesn't do them, it seems like He has done nothing. But He'll do something. So maybe that's what we ask Him for. Lord, do something. Something miraculous in our lives, in our world, in our marriages, and in our homes. Do something miraculous in our schools, our government, our work places, and our communities. Do something in our hearts. We don't know what it is, but you do. Help us to have faith, to see it, and to recognize it when you do it. And help us to be grateful for whatever it is you do. For the something you have in store for us. Thank you, Lord, that you always have and always will do something.
#926 - Because God will do something.
"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory." - Psalm 149:4