The soldiers and officials who had come to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus seized Him roughly, punching and manhandling Him as they bound Him. They bound the hands of the Son of God! The hands of the Creator! Hands that had lifted in authority and calmed the storm at sea. Hands that had gathered little children on His knee.
Have you ever felt bound . . .
in a marriage where the love has run out?
in a small home with small children?
in a physical body wracked with pain?
Are you struggling with your bindings? Do you find that the more you fight against them, the more pain you inflict on yourself, so that you are miserable in your confinement? Sometimes binding is in the will of God. Jesus was in the center of His Father’s will, yet He was bound. He did not resist the tight cords or complain about His confinement. He simply submitted, not to the soldiers, but to His Father’s will. Would you do the same?
It can be mind boggling to contemplate the vastness of the universe, from the greatest star to the smallest particle. It is so vast that astronomers are now saying that it stretches beyond what we are capable of penetrating, even with sophisticated telescopes like the Hubble. And every bit of it was created by the Living Word of God, Who, even as He hung the stars in space, counted them and called them each by name!
And Who keeps all this in perfect order? Who keeps Earth from getting sucked into some gigantic black hole, or planets from spinning out of control, or stars from falling from the sky? Who keeps people upright on earth while it turns on its axis? Who established the laws of nature? Who gives people the very breath they breathe?
The answer is none other than the Living Logos of Almighty God Who was in the beginning with God, and Who was God, and Who is the same today. He is bigger than we think and greater than we think. Nothing is beyond His ability. If He can keep the universe in order, He can keep your life and mine in order, too. He knows what’s wrong in your life and how to fix it. Give Him the authority to put it right. Let Him take charge.
Jan 22, 2013
And I will do whatever you ask in My name,
so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
You may ask Me for anything in My name,
and I will do it. John 14:13-14
My days in December were devoted to hovering over my husband in the hospital. On the morning during the first week of the hospitalization when the dreaded diagnosis of a MRSA infection was confirmed, the above verses were in my devotional reading. I read them, then went mechanically to the next phase of my reading. Even as I moved on, I knew I was covering up the fact that I didn’t really believe those verses. Not at that moment. Or at least, they didn’t seem to be true for me. But instead of repressing my uneasy thoughts, I went back to the verses. This time when I read them, I said as softly and respectfully as I could, “Lord, these verses don’t seem to work for me.” In response, all I heard was silence. So I repeated my thought, this time a little more vehemently, “God, I know Your Word is true, but these promises don’t seem to be true for me. I’m struggling with the fact that I have been asking You to heal Danny and make him better, and he has gotten decidedly worse. He has MRSA!” Again, all I heard was silence. So I waited. To my mind, came a gentle whisper…Anne, I will do whatever you ask when it’s in My will. That brought me up short. In My will? Surely it was in His will to make Danny better. So I inquired, “Don’t You want Danny to get well? Why have You allowed this to happen to him? Lord, what is Your will for him?” And again, so softly it was more of an impression than a whisper, I felt what He wanted to do for Danny was something on the inside. Something spiritual. Not physical.
So I began praying differently. I began to ask God to give Danny a fresh touch from heaven. I began asking God to give him a glimpse of the Lord, seated on a throne…to give him a vision of the glory of Jesus Christ such as had been given to Isaiah when something bad had happened in his life, too (Isaiah 6:1-8). I fervently asked Him to use the infection, and all the trauma that went with it, to revive Danny on the inside.
Immediately, I saw the Spirit of God begin to work. Miracle after miracle. Blessing after blessing. Mornings and evenings especially, as we shared Scripture and prayed together, whether it was just the two of us, or with other family members present, I glimpsed evidence of a deep spiritual renewal on the inside of Danny Lotz.
And then God restored him physically. He was home for Christmas Day. Then he returned home for good on December 28th. I could almost hear the choirs of Heaven singing Glory, Hallelujah, to the One who is still seated on the throne! Even now, weeks later, I can see the glow of revival fire in Danny’s eyes, and hear it in the tone of his voice.
So I humbly bow my head and thank God for re-teaching me a life-lesson. He has reminded me that when I pray, I am not to assert my will, demanding and expecting Him to do what I ask. And I am not to assume that I know what God’s will is. Instead, I am to ask Him what He wants. I am to ask Him how I can pray so that His will is done here in my life and in the lives of my loved ones, as it is done in Heaven.
Something else He taught me: praying in His will takes the struggle out of unanswered prayer.
Why does God let bad things happen to good people? to innocent people? to children? to me?
Sometimes His ways seem so hard to understand!
In Romans 8:28, Paul wrote to reassure believers who lived in a city dominated by Nero, a madman with absolute power. He wrote encouragingly, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Phrased another way, Paul was reminding the children of God they can be confident that…
all things work together for good,
brokenness leads to blessing,
death leads to life,
and suffering leads to glory!
So when bad things happen, just trust Him!
