Odds Are Against Us

So lately God has been teaching me a big trust lesson. There is nothing I find harder to do than trust that God is going to do something that seems impossible or highly unlikely. He's been accomplishing this objective in an interesting way. He's taken some "for sure" and "strong probability" of happening situations in my life, stripped out the things that gave them such a strong likelihood of occurring and made them now in the natural "highly unlikely" to happen.

 One of them I've written about a bit already and that has to do with M.getting into J.'s school for this fall. Initially due to sibling policies I thought we had this one in the bag. Except that policy changed in March and now we are one of 400 applicants vying for only 18 spots. Doesn't look to good for us does it?

 The other has to do with a position I've applied for. Now normally the position is ridiculously hard to get. It's been said over 750 applicants apply for each spot. But I have some unusual credentials for this position that put odds much more in my favor. That and I have a very snobbish tendency (really working on this) to get confident in the degree I have in my field from a "fancy" school and think that gives me an even better edge. A challenge to secure this position? Yes, but odds leaning slightly more in my favor than away. Except the catch. I didn't find the position or apply for it until 4 days after the application deadline. So now supposedly I'm totally out of the running. Probably not going to happen.

 Normally this would freak me out. But thankfully I've been embracing the lesson I'm learning. I've found I'm not so unlike David who in one instance similarly trusted in numbers instead of in God.

 "But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics. And David prayed to God, "I have sinned badly in what I have just done. But now God forgive my guilt—I've been really stupid." (2 Samuel 24:10 MSG)

 In my own life God has been taking these situations that I would normally assume I had a good shot at being successful in and made them so unlikely to happen that if they do I'll KNOW that it's God and not probability. I really believe He's going to come through somehow in both these instances. If He doesn't, then I'll know He has something else planned. Either way I'm victorious because I'm trusting Him and He's paving the way!

Just Like Hannah

The other day I felt an intense burden to pray for some friends and a situation that I know nothing about.  I am not privy to any details whatsoever but over the course of time God has brought them to my mind often to pray for them that He would bless them with a child.

 The longing for a child is not one I can relate to.  As I mentioned previously my first born was a surprise.  However, for whatever reason God has laid this couple on my heart over and over again.  I can't seem to shake it.  It's not that I desire to, but I feel fully  unequipped to relate to their circumstance.  Why me pray?  I have no answer to that, but I love and respect them greatly and feel it quite an honor to intercede on their behalf.  They may never know that I did, but God knowing is all that matters.

 And so it goes that I now weave them into my journey through the bible.  The very evening after I thought about and prayed for these friends all day, I opened up my bible app and turned to the book that comes after Ruth.  I really couldn't believe my eyes to be reading 1Samuel 1.  For anyone unfamiliar with this chapter and book of the bible, this is the story of a woman named Hannah who longed for a child, but whom God had made barren.  She struggled to deal with her condition and poured her heart out to Him. God heard her cry and blessed her with a son whom she named Samuel, and she dedicated him to the work of the Lord.

 I love this story.  I love it because it's a story of a situation which in the natural seems completely impossible, but by the power of God it becomes real.  I love it because I believe God does things like this all the time.  He withholds for what seems like an eternity and then in a moment He just does it.  No ability to grow life.  Then Life! when there seemed like no way.

 The very next morning God had me up again, well before the rest of my household had even stirred, crying out to Him that He would bring them this child.  It struck me in that moment as well, that all over His creation He has us crying out to Him on behalf of each other.  He links us one to the other in this way.  I believe it's to help us understand with greater magnitude, the love He has for each of us.  I consider it a privilege to forget my own concerns and focus on the concerns of someone else.  I don't doubt that when I have my back up against a wall or are in need, He will lay me upon the heart of someone else.

 For now Lord, my prayer is for them.  You are the creator of life.  It all begins with you.  Bring a life into theirs God.  They have long waited for it.  I believe with all my heart that they will be like Hannah and dedicate that life unto you God.  In Your Name I pray.  Amen.