my husband and i look at the lottery differently. i see it as "fun" way to throw away a few dollars that you shouldn't throw away. a chance to play a game in a pool at work... stuff like that. my husband sees it as a financial planning tool. okay, not quite, but we have spent countless hours planning how we would quit our jobs, or find fun part time ones, and share our winnings!
i never really expect to win - not hugely anyway. chris fully expects that we will have to make those big decisions at some point.
i ran into a scripture the other day that has really sat on my heart. "If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." james 1:5-6
how often i approach my requests as i do when i buy a lottery ticket, not fully expecting results. i've forgotten who i am dealing with!
see i know in my heart that God answers all prayer. i truly believe that. but my little human, small-picture brain thinks that what i want is the same as what i need and that the things i pray about, might not be important enough to address. i feel, sometimes, that my "requests" can be so... insignificant. there is a website of a family who just found out their 15 year-old son has a deadly form of bone cancer and they are battling this fight every day. how can what i have to say even begin to have any priority with those prayers being lifted? i've forgotten who i am dealing with.
again, my human brain takes over and i forget - unlike me and my multi-tasking ADD-self that must prioritize and allow the same less important things fall back, He is everywhere always. there is no prioritizing, no scheduling for free time next thursday...it just is for Him.
expect Him to answer.
james needs to also remind me - expect Him to answer... in HIS way. not mine. but EXPECT it. know it - with everything in you that He does answer. He does listen. He does care - about every whisper you send to him. every cry. every praise. every plea.
today-my prayer is for larry. larry has an interview today that could potentially get him and shelly off the streets of phoenix. i pray that it is the time that they are to get out of there. but if it isn't, i pray that He continues to use me, to minister to them, care for them and be a light for them in this time of unbelievable stress in their life. and i know that no matter what - God is there with larry and shelly. i expect that.
expect Him to answer - talk about hitting it big!
--t
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