We would sit for hours at the front porch of my parents home on holidays watching our little ones ride go carts round and round the driveway. So when I was at Costco in early October, the go carts caught my eye and I could just imagine my grandkids riding up and down the cul-de-sac as we watched from our front porch. So I invested in them for Christmas gifts. They have sat in unidentified boxed in my garage waiting to be assembled but as the weeks of Christmas became closer the overwhelming feat of reading directions and putting those little suckers together was over my head and I do believe my skill level. So the next time I was at Costco, checking out, I casually asked if the cashier knew of anyone at the store that might be interested in an offsite extra job. He gave me the name of two guys, both who were off because the had the early shift. So I came back earlier and asked around if anyone knew this guy named Anthony. Sure, one said he is the guy standing right over there, and they motioned to the direction and I was on my way.
I introduced myself and said that he had been referred as a can do guy and wondered if he could help me with an assembly project. I told him that I had one in my car and he said well lets go see what you have. On the way out, I said<"Anthony I have prayed about this and somehow you are involved in the answer.'' He stopped in his tracks, and I thought oh he is going to give me grief for thinking God cares about matters as insignificant as these, but he repeated my sentence and said, hang on a second, I am going to give you my card: It read "Anthony, Angel of Help" with a cross on it. He was a deep hearted, sold our Christian. Why was I surprised? He said you know, many don't believe that God answers all prayers, but he does and this is just one more example. I am her to serve he said! And he took the go cart that I had in my car, assembled it, we met at Costco and I exchanged it for the remaining three and we will now have a Christmas on wheels.
It was a casual prayer and I asked God to send me some help. He answered clearly. Not all times are we clearly able to interpret answered prayers because they come so often wrapped in ways that we do not expect and sometimes in ways that seem completely contradictory to our requests. But God knows what he is doing and just because we cannot understand the trials and adversities that have been brought upon us, we have to trust that God will oversee the process, and that his will will ultimately coincide with his purposes.
When my Molly was sick with Hodgkin;s, there were three very strong lessons that I learned:
1) Never underestimate the power of God
2) Pray specifically for then you will be able to see specific answers
3) Pray out loud - I know that seems a little funky, but even though God is the unseen partner in the conversation, there is something about hearing out loud what you are dealing with and knowing there are capable ears who are hearing it who can do something about it.
God does hear our prayers, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to be. If they are important to us then they are important to God. The deal is when we involve God in our prayers and out prayer requests we are consciously trusting him to pull through and one of his main goals is helping us to get to a point that we trust him with everything in our lives, even if it is assembling go carts. He is not too busy, he is not uninterested, he is not unengaged, and furthermore he is not unable to do anything. We limit our God because we have a limited understanding of his power, his authority, his will, his passion, and greatest of all His love.
December days seem to gain momentum of speed and schedules become crushed and crowded and the tugs and pulls of our to do list never seem to end. But the is the season to take time and make time to reflect on God and the birth of his son. I mean really where would any of us be without a true faith in the only one who can do everything, solve anything, oversee the daily mechanics of all living things, and master the workings of the universe at the same time. Only God!
Find a quiet place, maybe in your car, and turn off the radio, and don't answer a text or phone call for a few minutes, and consider this season. Talk to God out loud, tell of your requests, your sorrows, your hurts, your regrets and thank him for your blessings and ask him to help you know him better. He is listening to your every word and mine too and I am sure smiles as we have allowed Him to be a focal point of our lives, if only for a few reflective minutes.
God hears all of our prayers and when we cry our for help, he sends it in ways that sometimes tickle our imaginings, but why are we surprised?
I have chosen this verse because to me it seems so precious that God knows when we need a helper, and sometimes we don't even have to ask, he just knows and sends us one. He didn't even make it to the third chapter of his word before he was dealing with this issue. So having/receiving a helper that God sends is one of His earliest blessings, but I don't know about you but too often I push help away and want to do things myself. Not so sure that is what God intends for us to do. For being able to help others is also a gift to others. We all need one another, because each of us has varied gifts and talents to contribute to family, friends, community and society. We all have something to give or can be helpful in one way or another....we just have to be willing to see where help is needed, and jump in and seek help and accept help when the going gets tough.
Genesis 2:18
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Dear Lord, you are the great helper and we all need help. Teach us to be humble in our asking, grateful for your love and understanding and confident in your response. Amen
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