What In The World Can God Do With This?

 

Will they revive the stones

out of the heaps of rubbish,

and burned ones at that?

            Nehemiah 4. 2

God has.

God is.

God will.

God takes what we have,

  revives, restores, redeems 

and creates something new

   out of the most unlikely

   and unexpected situations

             and relationships.

God does not recycle our trash.

God resurrects and

     rewrites the story of our lives. 

What in the world

        can He do with this mess?

                 All things new.

Trust Me in this.

O LORD,

We all struggle with something.

We all face what is disordered,

     unraveling, and crumbling.

But You, O God,

   revive what we have,

   and transform our hearts.

Help us to see this day

    and what looks unsalvageable

            with Your glory all over it.

Skepticism has no power over You.

The pieces do not just come together.

  You design it all to fit.

First Response Not Last Resort

 

So I prayed to 

   the God of heaven.

      Nehemiah 2. 4

Caught in a difficult situation,

   Nehemiah's first response

    not his last resort,

                     was to pray.

This was not his first rodeo, 

            nor his last.

Praying was Nehemiah's pattern

 of approaching problems

  and His practice in responding.

When the trouble arose,

Nehemiah knew exactly

      what to do.

               He prayed.

He knew that God does

          not just show up.

God is already there,

          ready and waiting.

God shows us

   not just the first step,

but how to navigate

         all the way through,

    one step and then another.

And the first measure is praying,

in which

God changes our hearts

and sustains us for the next.

Not just when we pray,

      but while we pray,

something always happens.

O LORD,

We come before You

with our difficulties,

emergencies,

rocky roads, and ambushes,

but also with our joys and grateful hearts.

Thank You that You intercede,

You intervene,

You make possible

         the impossible,

You give us Your strength

  to see not just an outcome,

but to see us through           

           this journey.

Bind our blisters.

Heal our hearts.

Show us that there is

    not hope in circumstances,

    but our hope is in You.

You see.  You hear.

  You, Almighty One,

                act.

Not The End Of The Story

 

....but even now

there is hope

for Israel

   in spite of this.

       Ezra 10. 2

But even now

there is hope for us,

in spite of all 

   that we have done,

   or has been done to us.

God intervenes

         and redeems.

God is not about to 

     give up on us.

Hopelessness is when

   we give up on Him.

Because of His forgiveness

     and faithfulness,

this is not the end of the story.

            Never is.

His steadfast love 

              endures forever. 

O LORD,

But even now,

   in the midst of this mess,

   in this miry bog of despair,

   or dark night of the soul,

You are here with us.

You are carrying us.

You are bringing us through.

There is hope.

   Because there is You.

This is not the end of the story,

   but only deeper in You.

Guide us and carry us 

   as we trust and follow You.

Even in this. 

Even in spite of this.

   

 

Why He Put Us Here

 

When reviled,

      we bless.

When persecuted,

      we endure.

When slandered,

      we entreat.

            1 Corinthians 4. 12

Newton's third law of motion

   states that for every action,

there is an equal 

         and opposite reaction.

God invented physics

    to make the world work.

But God's foundational

              law of grace

   makes the world work too.

When we seek God

  and trust Him in volatile situations,

        deep down difficulties,

   and even everyday irritations,

He radically alters our triggers

   and how we counter

   the forces against us.

Not to react,

  but to respond with grace

  -- which is always unexpected.

It is not just turning the other cheek,

   but seeing a different opportunity

to bring the gospel here.

O God,

We pray for the wisdom

    to make radical choices.

We pray for a heart

    to see this hardship

    with Your courage.

Show us how to respond

          with grace

in the situations we find today.

Even when everything in us

          wants to fight back, 

or cry out unfair,

You show us a different way,

     Your steadfast love

which changes everything.

Because that is 

    why You put us here.

   

 

Our Own Personal Impossible Situation

 

...for the LORD had

   made them joyful

and had turned the heart

    of the king of Assyria to them, 

so that he aided them

in the work of the house of God,

   the God of Israel.

                Ezra 6. 22

God specializes in

     impossible situations

in order that His glory may be revealed.

It is not in us,

                  but in His might,

even though we would

    like to claim a favorable answer

                       as our own.

God has the power 

  to turn the heart of the king,

     even our own adversaries,

           foes and fears,

to bring about His purposes,

and astonish us even more

   that they would help us instead

      in the situation before us.

He swaps out their resistance 

               for His goodness sake.

May we see others differently.

May we see God differently.

God can turn the heart of the king.

   He can turn our hearts too.

And that alone may be the

      most extraordinary of all. 

O LORD,

Every one of us struggles with something

    far beyond our abilities, strength,

    and resources.

We pray for You to intervene

         in our circumstances,

that You will not just

                 work it out,

but cover these impossibilities

     with Your glory.

No matter the journey

           or the outcome,

empower us to know 

                   You are with us.

Help us to pray continually,

live faithfully,

love well,

and practice grace in this.

Because That Is Who We Are

 

And this was their response:

"We are the servants of the God

     of heaven and earth."

                   Ezra 5. 11

May others be compelled

  to ask why we live

            differently,

and to know to Whom we belong.

Who sees anything different 

        in us? 1 Corinthians 4.7

We serve God.

May that much be evident

in how we work, what we worship,

the choices we make,

how we respond

         and treat others,

not surprised at all

    that we are believers.

               "I thought so."

God strategically places us

   in the most unlikely places,

 usual and unusual

                     situations

to be a witness for Him.

And if anyone asks us,

  to speak of Whom we serve.

How would we respond?

O LORD,

May we be marked by our love

    and faithful service to You.

Because that gets all over

   everything and everyone.

May we see every task,

every unexpected glitch, 

every irritating chore,

    even the stuff 

         that falls apart,

as an amazing opportunity 

           to serve You

with a happy heart

and be a strong witness

            in this world.

Why do we do it?

Because that is who we are,

   to serve You with gladness

and because You lovingly

        placed us here to do it.

What Words Are We Repeating, What Words Are We Believing

 

And they sang responsively,

For He is good,

for His steadfast love

      endures forever.

           Ezra 3. 11

This truth is repeated

    41 times in the Old Testament.

God repeats in Scripture  

  what He doesn't want us

         to forget or ignore.

It is like putting it in BOLD type,

    underlined, 

    and in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

It is a call to worship,

a shout of praise

       and thankfulness,

and a daily reminder to us

   Who He is

   and who we are

             as His beloved.

Also translated as lovingkindness,

steadfast love spells out the goodness, 

    kindness and faithfulness of God.

When we recite these words,

     when we sing them,

when we engrave them 

                 on our hearts,

we put God in His rightful place.

If we start the day repeating this truth,  

 how differently we would live

     and respond to circumstances.

And at bedtime,

       grasp His immensity.

O LORD,

You are good.

You do good.

You cover us with Your goodness,

  even in unexpected ways.

Even in the hard stuff,

   we can know Your goodness there.

Keep our eyes on You.

Help us to know a hard thing

    may be an extreme grace. 

Your steadfast love

   does not just last,

but endures forever.

 

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