When God's Answer Is No

    We have all asked something of God we desperately wanted.  Many times He answers our prayers with a yes, but other times His answer is no.  This can be hard to accept.  When we spend hours travailing in prayer, it can take take us by surprise when God's answer is no.  

    Earlier this year, I began crying out to God for restoration of a damaged relationship.  I was given an opportunity to reach out to that person.  As the days went by, I continued travailing in prayer for God to mend the relationship.  I received a phone call that had me in tears and unable to speak. I grieved for weeks.  I was unable to understand why God didn't intervene.  Why did He not repair our relationship after all the tears that had been sown in prayer.  Why was I not reaping in joy as the Bible says? “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” ‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭126:5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

    God did intervene, but not in the way I had hoped.  God has better plans for our lives.  He does not tell us no out of malice.  He is protecting us from things we can not see.  When we give God dominion over our lives, we have to accept when He says no.  I know it's hard.  In the moment all we want to do is question God.  We shouldn't question God.  He is our protector.  His desires are more important than our desires. 

 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭KJV

    Oh, how I love reading Proverbs.  Most of us know this verse by heart, but do we live by it?  Do we fully trust in God at all times?  I have struggled with this.

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

Psalms‬ ‭118:8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

    We have all been let down by someone.  As much as we try, we can not always confide in others.  God is the only one we can put our confidence in.  I let myself down, so I know I let others down as well.  If someone has let you down the best thing to do is forgive them and move forward.  If it has truly upset you, bring it to their attention and talk it out with one another. (That can be a blog for another day.)

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”

Psalms‬ ‭9:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

    Though God's answer was no, that does not mean we have been forsaken.  He will continue looking out for us even if that means saying no.  Not everything we ask for is best for us.  We can not see things the way God sees them.  We have no way of knowing how the future will play out.  We can not control the decisions made by other people.  No matter the answer, we should have confidence that God will see us through.  God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.  Yes, we hear this often but it is a true statement.  

    Time for a little comparison.  We are moms, correct?  We know what is best for our children!  No one knows them they way we do!  Your child asks you for chocolate milk and you tell them no.  Your child is now crying and throwing a fit because they want chocolate milk, but you know they will have a stomach ache if they drink another glass.  You offer water instead.  Your child is even more upset because they just want chocolate milk.  At the moment your child does not understand why in the world you would not give them chocolate milk.  They asked politely, then cried for it, and now they are throwing a tantrum on the floor.  You are only doing what's best for your child.  They have already had two glasses of chocolate milk today and their stomach will be upset if they have any more.  They don't understand that you are trying to protect them.  Do you see the point I am trying to make?  You did not say no because you dislike your child.  You love them, that is why you said no.

    As I write this, I am in tears thinking about the goodness of God.  He is always looking out for us even when we do not understand His way of doing things.  Though I would much rather God have mended that relationship, He has a reason for not allowing that to happen.  I do not know His reasoning, but I do know that He loves me.  If God has told you no recently, do not be discouraged.  Trust Him.  Thank Him for protecting you.  Continue praising Him through the storms of life.  Job had everything taken from him, yet He remained faithful to God!  How inspiring.

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” ‭‭

Job‬ ‭13:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

    I pray I was able to encourage someone.  You may feel God has forsaken you because you have been desperately praying for something, yet His answer continues to be no.  Everything will happen in His perfect timing.  Now may not be the time, and though you do not understand, one day you will.  

From Momverbs with much love! 

“The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.” 

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭22:3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This Ends Now

I have a bad habit of comparing myself to other moms.  Let's face it, we are all guilty of that at some point.  We have seriously got to stop doing that.  No two people are the same, so why try to compare yourself to someone else?  Maybe you thought to yourself, "Her house is always clean while mine looks like a tornado ripped through it".  Do you know I've taken cute pictures of my kids playing but I was too scared to post them because of what the background looked like.  Yes, toys were scattered all about and there were probably crushed Cheetos on the floor so I didn't want other moms judging me because of it.  Crazy, right?  Why do we care so much? Our kids are having a great time enjoying themselves.  Maybe that other mom has a spotless house because she works a full time job and is not home long enough for her children to completely destroy it.  Maybe she's comparing herself to you and saying she wishes she could be home with her kids all day.  Why do we have to do this to ourselves?  We should be enjoying our children and thanking God for what we have.  If we have a full time job that allows us to give our kids everything they want, we should be thankful.  If we are a stay at home mom that sacrifices extra income for the joy of staying home with our children, we should be thankful.  It's an endless cycle of never being satisfied with what we have.  We tend to envy another mom while she is probably envying us.  And after all, the Bible tells us not to envy.  

“A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14:30‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This is the very reason I love reading scripture.  I look at that and think, wow. As moms and in general, we have got to stop comparing ourselves to those around us.  I know how easy it is for those thoughts to invade our minds, but the next time you think something like that, just look at those children.  Are they happy? Are they fed? If both answers are yes, you are doing fine!  Now go and enjoy your children while they are young because in the blink of an eye they will be going off to college.  You are their mother, no one else can love them like you!  Be encouraged, be thankful!

From Momverbs with much love! 

Finding Our Praise in the Midst of Being a Mom

Being a mom is tough.  We all have days where we just want to cry and wonder if we are doing this mom thing correctly. When we add living for God to the mix, things can get a lot harder.  As a stay at home mom of two and an involved church member, the juggling act tends to get exhausting.  There are days I feel I have lost my praise.  There are days when it feels like a chore to pack up my children and go to church.  Maybe you are there right now, or maybe you have been there.  I want to share with my readers how I broke through the discouragement.  I pray whoever is reading this will be blessed!

For the longest time, I would go through the motions and expect for God to do a work in my life.  I would expect something amazing to breakthrough, but nothing would happen.  I began to feel discouraged. Does God not care for me? I am sitting here waiting on Him, and He knows it. Why is He not moving in my life? 

In order for God to do something for us, we need to seek Him. God is not pushy when it comes to relationships. We have to decide that we are not satisfied with going through the motions. It is up to us to make the decision to pursue Him.

Below are five important steps I applied to my lifestyle to seek God and to find my praise:

1.  Study The Bible

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” -- 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” -- John 15:7 (KJV)

I know what you're thinking, how can a mom possibly study with kids around?  Us moms can barely read a text message; how could we possibly be expected to study the Bible?  Well, I found the solution simple, really.  I made a point to wake up before everyone else in the house.  Set an alarm if you need, and get in the routine of waking up earlier than the whole household.  It's a sacrifice, but no one said living for God would be easy. We have to forget about our flesh and get up out of bed.  Once the kids wake up, there will be no time for anything else.  Find some devotionals to read or just flip through your Bible until something pops out at you.  Maybe you will find something you never knew was in there and it will cause you to question things.  Use that as an excuse to study it in depth and find out what that verse is all about.  There are so many things in the Bible that just grab my attention and cause me to desire to live a holy lifestyle.  God's word has been given to us as a guide and as a believer it is very important to not only know His word but to live by it.  We need to have truth planted inside our hearts so when we face times of trouble, we can recall scripture that remind us God is with us. We must also be ready to be a witness at all times.  If someone questions our beliefs, we must know the Bible in order to back up everything we believe and stand upon.  How can anyone take us seriously if we do not have scripture to back us up?  Stay spiritually fed.

2. Pray

“Pray without ceasing.” -- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)

This is a given.  Prayer is very important in our walk with God.  We must be able to find some time in our day to just sit and talk to him.  I was recently inspired by Lee Stoneking’s testimony.  When he began living for God, he would pray every day until he prayed through and began speaking in the Holy Ghost.  Praying through to a breakthrough everyday… can you imagine the kind of advancement that will take place in your walk with God?  Lee Stoneking shared that he wanted to pray so much that it would get God's attention.  I want God's attention.  I want Him to know I desperately need Him in my life.  Our prayer life is vital to our relationship with God.  Yes, I am repeating myself, but we really need to grasp this.  Again, prayer is extremely important!  Let's compare it to a long distant relationship.  A relationship is hard to keep when two people don't see each other much, but if they speak on the phone every day, their relationship will stay strong despite the distance.  That's how it is with God when we converse with Him every day.  I'm not just talking about little prayers throughout the day like "God, help me right now" or "Jesus, please do this."  I am talking about on our face in a designated area in our house kind of prayer.  I am talking about pouring out our hearts to God each and every day.  The Bible says to pray without ceasing.  If we want God to give us our praise back, we need to search for it! We need to show God that we want it and show Him we are serious about living for Him.  If we pursue Him, He will pursue us.

3. Give Thanks

“To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.” -- Psalms 30:12 (KJV)

My wonderful Pastor's wife gave all of the women who attend our prayer meetings a prayer journal.  She told us to write down our prayers so that we can keep a record of the ones God has answered.  I decided to highlight the ones God answers.  When I flip through my prayer journal, I can see all the prayers God has answered.  I'm not just talking about big things, I'm talking about the little things here and there that we forget about.  Let’s take one minute out of our day and thank God for something we have.  I usually write down in my prayer journal one specific thing I am thankful for.  Sometimes we don't thank God enough for all He does for us.  He has given me much more than I deserve, and I am truly thankful for every blessing, no matter how small it may seem.

4. Worship

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” -- John 4:23 (KJV)

There is nothing like worshipping Jesus.  I love being in His presence and just pouring out my praise on Him.  Here is where I found my praise. After I completed each prior step, I was amazed by how easy it was for me to worship! If you want to run the isles or just fall on your face worshipping, do it!  You have the freedom in Jesus to worship however you feel.

When these steps are applied DAILY, we will have no problem finding that praise!  You will get your joy back!  You will be super mom!

I want to challenge each reader to repeat these 4 steps for just one week.  If you miss a day, start over.  No skipping days. Consistency matters!  Watch how much you grow.  Watch how amazing you will feel.  I promise you, you will not want to stop after that first week.   Implement these four steps into your day-to-day life and you will be blessed!

From Momverbs with much love!