Thanks for Listening

Psalm 47:8
"God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne."

We had an awesome worship service today. Our pastor talked about the fact that God is God. That may sound obvious, but it is so easy to compartmentalize Him and fit Him into our lives, instead of trying to make our lives fit His plan. He is not just the God of our finances, or the God of our health, or the God of our relationships. He is God. Plain and simple.

Brian talked about a situation in his family's life and how easy it would be to pray, "Lord, please take care of this situation the way we want it handled." Instead, he told us that he--and reminded us that we--must pray, "Lord, please handle this situation the way You know is best." It's easier said than done.

We have written several times that we are at peace with whatever God decides to do in our situation. We honestly believe that. But then, the night after Tammy received her transplant, she was rushed to ICU and the doctor told me on the phone, "This is what we afraid of. The next 24 to 48 hours are critical for her survival." It was very difficult for me to hold onto that promise I made to Him. I contacted the family and a few very close friends and asked them to pray for Tammy, and for me as I tried to remain calm. God honored those prayers, both for peace and for healing.

One of the songs we sang in church today is called "We Will Sing, Sing, Sing" by Chris Tomlin. (We also sang "You Never Let Go," and you know how I love that Matt Redman song.) Here are the first four lines of Tomlin's song: "We will sing, sing, sing, And make music with the heavens. We will sing, sing, sing, Grateful that You hear us." I have sung that song dozens of times, but today one line jumped out at me: "Grateful that You hear us." We are grateful that God hears us, in song, in prayer and in any form of worship.

It is so easy to feel like we deserve to have God hear our prayers. We think, "God loves me; I want something; therefore I have a right to have my prayer answered in the way I want." That's not the case. It is only through the sacrifice of Jesus that we even have the opportunity to approach the Throne of God. Remembering that He is the Creator of the entire universe, it's pretty arrogant to tell Him how He should answer our prayer.

It's a constant battle for me, thinking I know what's best. It was such a blessing today to be reminded that God is God, and I am not.

We hope you have a great afternoon and an awesome week as you seek to worship God through your daily walk.