Have you ever had a conversation with the Lord that included words like….
Why?
When?
Who?
But….
If…
I think we have all used these words with the Lord from time to time. I know that I for one am guilty of it! What we really are doing by using these words is hijacking our own faith. When we use these words, we are doing nothing more then implanting seeds of doubt, confusion, frustration and building on our own insecurities. These words do not build us up in our faith. These word rob us from the peace that our Lord desires us to live in each and every day. These are the very words that satan will try to get us to rehearse in our times of struggle in order to win over the battle of our minds. As we all know, these are words that can so easily slip off our tongues, into our minds, and even into our prayers.
God patiently reminds us
God has such an immeasurable amount of patience when it comes to these words. It seems like every time I use them He reminds me oh so lovingly, of the other side of the story that I am not seeing. Let me give you some examples of how this might play out...
When I ask “why?” God says, “because my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways.” Isaiah 55:8
I am left remembering that God is God, and I AM NOT! He obviously knows what He is doing. He has been at this a whole lot longer then I have.
When I ask “when?” God says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
In other words, “Be patient my child! I am in no hurry, in fact I hold time in my hand. I am not limited by time. So, patience, my child, patience.”
When I ask “who?” God says, “I AM That I AM.” Exodus 3:14
Yes, there have been times when I have asked God, “who in the world?”, and He so gently reminds me “It’s me. It’s always been me, and it always will be me. There is no one else who can meet your every need, so please trust me my child.”
When I say “but…” God says, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27
Oh yeah, how is it that I can continually forget that I serve a God who made me, and not to mention that He also made the whole universe. So yes, He has got this. I absolutely can just take that “but” and throw it away.
When I say “if…” God says, “be still and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10
By the time I start inserting the word “if” into my talks with God I have noticed one very scary thing. I have gone over the cliff and into the deep disillusioning world of doubt. By this point I figure God probably is about fed up with my questions, insecurities, fears and doubts because He basically asks me to simply stop talking.
These words are nothing more than a mere distraction, a ploy used by satan to pull us away from our firm foundation of faith. If we are being honest here, it is a daily battle sometimes to make sure that these words keep from injecting their loud opinions into our faith. In fact, sometimes it can seem downright impossible. Thankfully we serve a God who knows our very weakness. He knows when these hijacking words are coming yet again to try to throw us off kilter. He also knows that though our weakness He can be glorified if we are willing to surrender to His will for our lives.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness...” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“...For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
In those moments of “why, when, who, but, and if,” we can go to the Lord in our weakness, lay it all down at His feet and that is when His strength can truly be seen. It is in these moments of surrender that the Lord can truly begin to do a work in our hearts and minds and to bring us back to a place of faith once again. The Lord does not want to see our faith hijacked by a few seemingly insignificant words. He desires for us to walk in complete confidence that He is God and He knows what He is doing!
Call to action
I want to challenge you to pay close attention your thoughts and prayers. Are any of these five little words leaching in? Are any of them lurking in the background somewhere? If so, take captive those words and make them obedient to the words of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27) into your faith. Work hard at surrendering these words to the feet of Jesus.
Lord, I pray that you help us to take these five little words and surrender them to you. Help our thoughts to line up with your thoughts. Give us the ability to recognize when these words are lurking in the recesses of our spirit and the strength to take them captive as they rear their ugly heads. We want to have a faith that is free from any chances of a hijacking.
Do you have an encouraging story to share? We would love to hear about it. You may share your stories in the comments section below or on the learningirl4life Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you!
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