FAQ Blog # 3 Less Mess Please, Lord

It was the end of our week-long stay in Romania. We had tried to locate the mother of the little girl we longed to adopt but every trail had led to a dead end. Time was running out. If we did not obtain her signature for the adoption, our week would end in vain. 

The snow fell gently around us as we trudged out to the car in the predawn darkness. Our Romanian hosts were about to get in the car when one of us noticed a flat tire. I can still see the look of hopelessness in their eyes as they informed us of even worse news. There was no spare. And there were no tires to be bought anywhere in the city. All hope of adopting the adorable brown-eyed girl that had stolen our hearts evaporated into the frigid air. Had we come so far only to end the week in vain?


"Wait, don't you see?" I said. "It's impossible for us. That means God has to show up if He wants us to adopt." I was as shocked at what I just said as they were, but suddenly I was excited, expectant. Our hopeless situation was the perfect setting for God to demonstrate His power!

Before we had packed our bags for the trip I told God, "I don't want any child that You don't want me to have." Resolving this impossible situation would be God's way of showing me if He was behind this adoption or not. 

On that snowy November morning we had a choice. We could moan and groan about the problem or we could focus on the Problem Solver. 

Too often we magnify the mess we are in or the spiritual attack we are undergoing. We go to great lengths to describe the awful details of our situation to our friends or family. As we continue to talk about how bad off we are, our predicament takes on monstrous proportions in our minds and our emotions. 

There have been times when my problems seemed like elephants and God seemed like...well, to be honest, I was so consumed with the enormity of my circumstances that God was not in the forefront of my thoughts. My mind was wrestling with questions like, "Why is this happening to me?" Or, "How am I going to make it?"

My prayer apprenticeship with God has been teaching me to magnify the Lord, not the problem. Have you ever seen the cartoons where the villain uses a spotlight to create an enormous shadow of himself on the wall to frighten the good guy? But in reality the villain is about a tenth the size of his shadow. 

That is often what happens when we face a difficult situation. Either the enemy or our flesh blows the problem all out of proportion making it seem much larger than it is. Remember - no matter how gigantic our troubles seem to be, God is MUCH BIGGER and MORE POWERFUL!

Take Away Points:

  • There is only one question you need to ask yourself when faced with a seemingly impossible situation: "Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14 NIV)."
  •  Refrain from giving undue attention to the problem
  • Magnify the Lord by declaring His Word over your situation:

    • "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Luke 18:27)."
    •  "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)."
 P.S.
        God orchestrated the details of our trip such that we eventually adopted a   beautiful little girl who has grown up to be a godly young lady.
 


12 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your heart with us!

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    1. My pleasure, Julie. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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    2. I am unable to get power praying book, can someone help?

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    3. You can order on line by clicking on the booksellers listed on my home page - to the right of the blog text. I hope that helps. Blessings...Jane

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  2. Wonderful post, Jane, and I truly delight in the villain's shadow analogy - terrific point! I've been trying not to bemoan my circumstances to be greater, even though I've done my best and there is no getting past them without God's favor and help...so thank you for the encouragement to keep on looking at how big God is.

    Such a love story about your little girl's adoption. To know that you and the Lord made one more life on this earth more bearable and loving - I can only imagine the ripple effect her life will have on others.

    Thank you and blessings for more inspired sharing,
    Marianne

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  3. Thanks, Marianne, for your kind comments. I am so glad the blog blessed you. Blessings...Jane

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  4. so grateful for your Ministry Jane. I saw your interview with Sid Roth in my home one night, in Sydney Australia. It changes my life. I decided to apply just the small principles i'd learned just from that show. I ordered the book and am still eagerly waiting but, that one principal was applied to a silly situation i had. I had just purchased new sox for my daughters school uniform. I purchased 2 pairs but the shop accidentally only put 1 pair in the bag. I drove home without a thought only to unpack the bag and find only 1 pair of sox in there. I had no time to drive back to that shop which was a half an hour drive from my home. The next day, i drove back there to get the sox. I brought them home and gave them to my daughter to put away in her draw. Long story made short....when i opened her draw to pack clothes away, i could not see the sox in there. I ask my daughter where did you put the sox...she said...in the top draw. i told her they are not in there! we went through each and every draw and moved 'all' the clothes and 'could not find those sox'. This went on for 2 weeks. I was frustrated, angry and sadly accused my daughter of putting them somewhere should should not have apart from that draw. I sad down and applied your principle: Petition, Passion, Prayer....I said: 'Lord, I do not want to get angry at her and i have lost my peace. Where are those sox'? (no reply)..later that day, i asked again.....this time.......I heard Him: "They are in the draw". I dared to argue: 'No Lord, they're not..i looked in there all week and i cannot find them'. He replied: "They.....are ........there. Look again". I argued again and this went 3 times before i finally obeyed. I opened each draw, one by one..and argued: 'See Lord..they're not here'....i got down to the very last large draw and as i sat on the floor and pulled that draw right out, i heard the packet of sox! "I was astounded". It could ONLY have been The Lord because I had just been pressing in and power praying the way you taught Jane. I thank God for you. You are such a Blessing. Thank You and Thank you Lord God.

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    1. What an amazing story! Thank you so very much for sharing. I share a similar story about a lost contact lens in my book. I think you will enjoy reading it. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
      Blessings...Jane

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  5. Jane, recently i prayed to be pardoned from a road fine i received. I truly believed i was fined by the road camera unfairly. When i received the fine in the mail, the cost and the points i would lose, made me so disheartened. I prayed over that fine - then i sent an appeal explaining why I felt the camera that had fined me was in error. i prayed and prayed and laid hands on that fine and asked God to intervene and move on the hearts of those in the position of authority. I was unsuccessful. I received a letter from the authorities that i still had to pay the fine because i was still in the wrong. Why doesn't God answer prayer sometimes Jane? If we truly believe we are not in the wrong - and we know with all our hearts God 'can' protect us from unfair rulings, why doesn't He?

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  6. Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble. If you think about Jesus suffering for our sins, an innocent being, what could be more unfair? The Word says that we share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13). Whenever things seem unfair in my life I try to remember 1 Cor. 6:7 which says, "Why not rather be cheated?" Hard words to accept but life isn't always fair. One of the ways we distinguish ourselves from the world of unbelievers is how we deal with unfair suffering. We all want things to go our way and be fair and it's hard when they don't, but remember - God knows your heart. He is the one that really matters.Blessings...Jane

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