I’m ready for a new body. How about you? Maybe (like me) your body is experiencing the effects of over doing it a bit while celebrating Resurrection Day last weekend? As I get older, I often yearn for the new body God promises us in the Bible. Read this:
“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.” — 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (NLT)
Have you ever prayed to God and seemingly nothing happened? How about praying 10 times? 100 times? Maybe you felt like you didn’t even deserve the gift you asked for? I recently read the first chapter of Luke and empathized with Zechariah. God spoke to me in a new way — to not lose heart when I pray. I had three takeaways I wanted to share with you.
Remember These Things:
1. Be faith-filled and pray continually.
Think about how long Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a child. Being advanced in years and well beyond the age of having children (Luke 1:18), they must have prayed thousands of times to have a child. They continued to have faith and pray even though their prayers seemed unanswered (Luke 1:6).
2. Gifts from God are good.
When God answered their prayer for a child, Zechariah didn’t believe it. I can certainly empathize with that feeling! There are times I feel like I don’t deserve a blessing from God. In fact, it leads me to doubt the prayer will be answered. God shook Zechariah a bit by removing his voice until his son was born. It was as if God needed to get his attention (in a drastic way) for him to understand the depth of the gift he was about to receive. Being mute drove Zechariah to an even closer relationship with God than he had before (Luke 1:67–79). Take heart, even when things seem like they are “bad”, God is working it for good.
3. God loves us and will answer us.
He hears us and answers according to His will for our lives (Luke 1:13). Certainly, our prayers aren’t always answered the way we want. That’s because our Father knows what’s best for us. I know there have been times I’ve specifically prayed for something and it didn’t happen the way I wanted. But God knew what was best.
When we faithfully pray, we are heard and loved by Him. He will answer us according to His will for our lives. With this in mind, don’t lose heart while you’re waiting. Sometimes, just like for Zechariah, God needs to grab our attention during the process. Take heart.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28 (NIV84)
My mom died a few weeks ago. We didn’t expect it. It happened suddenly.
Without a doubt, death is never easy. Grieving the loss of a loved one is not something we look forward to. Neither would we describe such experiences as “good.” They are really hard. They hurt.
I am absolutely blown away by the responses from the first blog I sent out a few weeks ago. I have received so many encouraging emails, texts and phone calls from friends and loved ones about how helpful my thoughts were. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I’ve also received many inquiries about the other thoughts (I’d mentioned I’d written down). Since I gave you part one, I thought I’d give you part two. (Hey, who knows, maybe I’ll write a book one day?)
Jesus’ call on His disciples’ lives was clear — radical, but clear. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” In a nutshell, Jesus says it’s a call to give up everything for Him.
“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” — Revelation 2:10
Last year, at a pastor’s conference, we watched the Tortured for Christ movie. This powerful film told the story of pastor Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001). He was a Romanian pastor who endured 14 years of Communist imprisonment and suffering for his faith. The torture scenes made the movie difficult to watch. However, his courage and example were astonishing.
I’ve been reading through the Exodus story this past week. I was struck by this important idea — God’s timing is not our timing. This is a truth we often learn through difficult circumstances. Certainly, this was no different for the Israelites. Though they were enslaved and tormented in Egypt, God was at work, fulfilling His promises.
“…the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” — Exodus 2:23-25
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” — John 12:27
These were Jesus’ words before He was betrayed and crucified. If anyone knows about suffering, it’s Jesus. His suffering was foretold all the way back to the book of Genesis. Isaiah 53 calls Him the “Man of Sorrows”.
