[20] As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. [21] And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” [22] And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. [23] Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. [24] Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. [25] And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Jesus answered him saying "Have faith in God."
Seems easy to say that doesn't it?
Have Faith in God.
A blogging friend of mine recently wrote an article on God Created Birth Control and I had mixed feelings as I read it. She talked about how children are a reward from the Lord. So it begged for me the question, if children are a reward from the Lord, why does God choose not to reward children to some people? Why does he allow for miscarriages and infertility... from People who are truly following him? Is it a punishment? Or is it something else? That section made me weep within. Because prayer, fervent prayer was made to God about this issue with faith that God would hear. It was like (at the time).. would God not listen?
I then caught hold of myself and remembered this... HAVE FAITH IN GOD.
Seriously.
God calls us to have faith in him. To trust in his wisdom. To know that we can say MOUNTAIN MOVE and the mountain will move BUT God in his wisdom may see that moving that mountain is not in the best interest of his people and so the mountain will not move.
Our Prayer must always be tempered with the will of God. That's what it means to have faith in God. It's not a give me give me.. it's a God this thing I would have, please give it to me. It's a trusting God to know what is best. EVEN WHEN it's hard to do so.
It took me.. hmmm.. almost 8 years after my son was born, 7 years after our last miscarriage to realize this fact. One child is GOOD for this household. I have a hard time managing more then two people. My introverted hubby struggles (as much as he loves us) with the noise that his wife and son generate cause we're noisy silly people sometimes. Adding more to the mix would have caused undue stress in this house (as much as it would have been fun to have more children and to have more noise.... it's not always good or easy).
GOD in his wisdom acted... as painful as it was at the time ... and still is at times. And so my faith in him grew. My empathy for others grew.
And isn't that the point?
The point isn't the asking and getting, or the telling and demanding. The point is the growth in the body of Christ.
The point is the God's kingdom is advanced. That God be praised in ALL things. Not just the easy things, but the less easy as well. God's will be done.
To his praise, to his glory, for his advancement. So it should be.