Missing It

Ever just totally miss it? 

Walking outside our hotel in Zambia near Victoria Falls, these were hard to miss.

This took a little more time and intention to see.

When our kids were little we took a trip to Colorado one summer.  It was the first time either of them would see the mountains and they were both really excited.  As they came into view we “oohed and aahed” but all Maggie said over and over again was “I DO NOT SEE IT!”  You wonder how anyone could miss something so big, but she didn't know what to look for.

It was easy to miss how God was at work when our other daughter, Katy, was out of work for nine months a couple years ago.   Katy worked hard to do the right things and kept charts of dates and everyone she had contacted and applied to and followed up with and struggled to see God and to persevere.  Along the way she ended up as the finalist in several jobs she was well-qualified for, jobs with hundreds of applicants.  But she always lost out. 

In the end, she got her dream job (which certainly doesn’t happen for everyone, but does in this story).  A job that only people with advanced degrees (which she doesn’t have) get offered. Here’s the crazy thing.  It was the very first job she had applied for 9 months previous.  But it had taken time.  God was at work in unseen ways, shaping her character, and making a way where it seemed there wasn’t one.  She changed and circumstances changed. 

When John and I heard her news(after I stopped screaming with joy), we immediately thought of a story in Daniel’s life where he prayed for help, but it seemed like help didn’t come.

He is reassured in 10:12 “Don’t be afraid, Daniel.  Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven.  I have come in answer to your prayer.”  I believe from the first day Katy began to pray, God was at work.

Katy’s job is perfect for her in every way and beyond what she could have imagined.  A lovely end to the story. But it wasn’t always lovely in the nine months of hard work and “why not?” and “what am I doing wrong?” and “when?”  God was at work in unseen ways, but they were unseen!  It wasn’t like there was blue smoke or fairy dust to remind Katy that God was at work. 

But here’s where I totally missed it.  I love to tell this story and to marvel at God's work in unseen ways in someone else’s life, but I've pretty dense in applying this myself in my own season of waiting and questions.

So this morning I was reading from Genesis 24 “Before he had finished praying Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder…Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord saying ‘Praise be to the Lord who has not abandoned His kindness and faithfulness.’”  

How often do I act as if God is at work before I have finished praying?

I felt like the admonition this morning was that it’s one thing to remember how God has been faithful and at work in unseen ways in the past, but I need to go beyond remembering and live in the reality. 

So my prayer this morning is “Thank you Lord that You are at work even now in ways I can’t see, on my behalf for Your glory.  And thank You that like with Maggie, your answer may be different than I expect. ”

You may not see it yet either, but I believe “since the first day you prayed” God heard and is at work on your behalf for His glory.