Joy made Full

Today's little scrap of paper was smaller than the others, tightly folded...

I ask and receive and my joy is made full.

I ask. A lot. I receive...sometimes.  My joy...is it full?  I have lots, but I think there's still room for more.

I've been pondering the big questions of unanswered prayer a lot lately.  Seeking words adequate to describe trust when the answers aren't neatly packaged in a little box and adorned with a perfect bow.

In my own life I've gone through times of such profound pain and disappointment that I shut out, blamed, even accused the One who was my only source of hope.  

We can get sad, mad, hurt, frustrated, angry, disappointed, distressed, depressed when He doesn't enter our circumstances in the way we want Him to, when it looks like He hasn't done what He promised.  He promised a way to escape temptation, but I just want to escape reality.

We block Him out or say He isn't real because He doesn't dance to our tune or rescue us according to our plan.

Yet all the walls built to block out the pain of disappointment also block out the light.  The hope.  Even those disappointed places, especially those disappointed places, must be surrenderd to Him if I want to be filled full with joy...

So many mysteries, so many complexities, that don't fit into the neat little columns and boxes I adore.  Yet I always come back to the fact that He is huge and full of love.  Trustworthy.  He hung the stars and keeps the planets in their orbit.  He can handle the details of my life.  I can trust even when things don't make sense.

He says to ask...He invites us to ask.  He promises we will receive all that we need...and then some.  My joy is full and when I trust that He is answering and providing all that I need.  Even when it doesn't come in the package I was looking for.

And this same God who takes care of me

will supply all your needs from his glorious riches

which have been given to us in Christ Jesus

Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever!

Amen.

John 16:24

Philippians 4:19-20

This post is part of a series Love in a Box

Dare to Trust

I got to witness something truly lovely today.  I went with my friend to listen as she spoke to a ladies' group about her adventures on a short-term mission trip.  It was really the story of how she encountered God in a new way and He healed some of the broken places in her heart.  I've known her for a long time and there's no doubt she has been transformed.

One of my favorite things she said was, "We believe that God can part the Red Sea, but sometimes we feel there's no hope for some of the situations in our life.  It's not true.  He can help us with the seemingly impossible stuff."  You could feel a ripple of hope go through the room.

Have I mentioned that her two-year-old daughter is scheduled for open-heart surgery in less than two weeks?

All afternoon I've been pondering how we can make these radical statements of faith when we have questions that are yet unanswered.  My friend's heart was dramatically touched, on her journey she saw a medically verified miracle...and her baby needs major surgery.

There are so many questions I cannot answer.  What I do know, what my friend knows, is that when you've really encountered God and He's touched your life, you know you can trust Him with your unanswered questions.  You know that He's BIG and that He's very, very kind.

Yes, we wrestle with things, we weep, and we wonder, but the bottom line is that we've tasted and seen that He is good and we dare to trust.

Have you ever come on anything quite like

this extravagant generosity of God, 

this deep, deep wisdom?

It's way over our heads.  We'll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?

Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?

Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;

Everything happens through him;

Everything ends up in him.

Always glory! 

Always praise!

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

Romans 11:33-36 MSG