Thank God for Unanswered Prayer

So the Lord said to Moses, “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel

 go out of his land.”  But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”  But the Lord 

spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 6:10-13

I find this portion of Scripture so interesting.  God's interaction with Moses reminds me very much of a father speaking to a child who might be saying "But daddy, it's too hard for me to pick up all my toys!"  And the father calmly but firmly saying, I know you can do it, now go on, pick up those toys."

The Lord's ultimate will for the people of Israel was to bring them safely to the land of Canaan - and to prepare them for their arrival.  The only way they would become a prepared people was through the trials of the wilderness where their obedience and trust in the Lord would be tested...

...My husband and I are currently in the middle of MAJOR home improvements which you can read about here, and can I tell you, I am not cut out for this!  Oh my!  There isn't a space inside or outside that is not in total chaos.

You know how it goes, you start a project that you think will be small and it ends up being huge!  True story for this girl right here!

We needed to replace our tub and shower unit as the tub had developed a crack.  Our son-in-law helped my husband take out the old one and put in the new one.  Except for a few hiccups along the way, that went fairly smoothly.   We were also going to redo our floors with tile and bought a new vanity to replace the old one.

Well, I have had wainscoting in the bathroom for years and years, but we all had grown tired of it and decided to take it down and repaint the walls.  Unfortunately, taking the wainscoting off ended up ripping holes all over the lower two-thirds of the sheetrock - too many to repair individually.  My husband then had to cut out the lower two-thirds of the bathroom walls at which time we discovered that the insulation on the outside wall was covered in mold!  As a result, the upper sheetrock had to be removed so that new insulation could be placed properly into the studs as it couldn't just be stuffed up.  Did I mention we only have one bathroom!  

Once the tiling commenced we had to remove the toilet as well.  So basically, what started out as a few improvements ended up indeed being a total gut job!  Three weeks later, and I still have the vanity box sitting in my kitchen with no sink in the bathroom.  We finally  have a shower and toilet in operation again, but the walls are still causing delays...

I see a parallel lesson here between the Israelites in the wilderness and the wilderness that is our bathroom.

The unhealthy mold would never have been discovered had we not gone ahead and done the extra work to remove the wainscoting.  We definitely could have taken the easy route, even though the signs of mold were always there as every summer I could smell it, but always assumed it was the dog days of August creating the problem outside...  So I chose to ignore it...

Wilderness moments have a way of exposing our sin, don't they.  

The way we handle trials can speak volumes about our spiritual health,  Do we lash out?  Do we become bitter?  Do we complain?  Do we blame?  Do we become angry?  Do we handle the trial in our own strength?  

And so the Lord tested the Israelites in the wilderness - testing their obedience to the commands He had set forth AND testing whether or not they would trust HIM to provide for them.

When we experience any kind of trial, the Lord is testing us in the same way, to see if we will be obedient to His Word and to see whether we will trust Him to provide whatever is needed in that situation according to His perfect will.

We can't ignore our sin problem.  Imagine if my husband and I had known about the moldy insulation and just covered it up with new sheetrock!  It would have continued to spread and infect the rest of the walls.

In the same way, it is not wise to cover up our sin because even one tiny.. little... sin will lead to another and another and before you know it, we will backslide and be in a very sad state...   We need to expose our sin the moment we become aware of it, confess it to the Lord Jesus and turn away from it.

I'm sure we have all found ourselves in situations or you might be in the midst of one right now that you have been praying about for a long time, possibly even years, but no answer has come yet...

Often, the only way the Lord has chosen to accomplish His will in our lives is to take us through the wilderness, but take heart! - like the Israelites, He doesn't send us on our way with a wave and good wishes.  HE IS RIGHT THERE WITH US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!

Be encouraged, that unanswered prayer is preparing you for your own personal Canaan here on earth where you will experience great joy when you see what the Lord has done, and ultimately, for your Heavenly reward seated with Christ in Heaven.  

In the meantime, while you are in the wilderness, commune with your Traveling Companion often; memorialize all the times He has provided for you on the journey and finally, ...  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:1-4

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered

Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Garth Brooks

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