Stability #9. “What does God want?

A preacher’s son was playing in his front yard when a visitor asked him if his dad was home.

“He’s upstairs praying,” the little boy said.

“What’s he praying about? the visitor enquired.

“He’s asking God if he should take a position at a bigger church with a bigger salary.”

“Well, where’s your mother, then?” the man asked.

“She’s downstairs packing,” the little boy said.

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” is oft cited when discussing prayers answered in the negative. In his case he couldn’t change the situation himself and was thus pleading for divine intervention. God refused. Instead, God told him three times, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Believing that God’s power can be perfected in our weaknesses is never our starting point when praying. We tend to believe that a fitter body, a sharper mind, a better circle of friends, and more money, would add more shine to our Christian witness.

But even being ‘shiny’ among the ordinary is never enough. We want to move up to the CEO office. This is where God trusts us to decide His will for our lives. This is where, “Our will be done,” is always, “Thy will be done.”

Pride is a one-way ticket to hell, and that is why God doesn’t care to remove our “thorns in the flesh.” If God restrained a great man of faith like Paul from spiritual-self-destruction by refusing his prayers, then how much more me?

God knows what he is doing!

And what does he want?

Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

John Staiger

Stability

#9. “What does God want?

A preacher’s son was playing in his front yard when a visitor asked him if his dad was home.

“He’s upstairs praying,” the little boy said.

“What’s he praying about? the visitor enquired.

“He’s asking God if he should take a position at a bigger church with a bigger salary.”

“Well, where’s your mother, then?” the man asked.

“She’s downstairs packing,” the little boy said.

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” is oft cited when discussing prayers answered in the negative. In his case he couldn’t change the situation himself and was thus pleading for divine intervention. God refused. Instead, God told him three times, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Believing that God’s power can be perfected in our weaknesses is never our starting point when praying. We tend to believe that a fitter body, a sharper mind, a better circle of friends, and more money, would add more shine to our Christian witness.

But even being ‘shiny’ among the ordinary is never enough. We want to move up to the CEO office. This is where God trusts us to decide His will for our lives. This is where, “Our will be done,” is always, “Thy will be done.”

Pride is a one-way ticket to hell, and that is why God doesn’t care to remove our “thorns in the flesh.” If God restrained a great man of faith like Paul from spiritual-self-destruction by refusing his prayers, then how much more me?

God knows what he is doing!

And what does he want?

Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

John Staiger