The Parking Space…
Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36
Rise and Shine, sweet friend!
Guess what?
It is FRIDAY!! Yippee!!
I mean, who doesn’t love a Friday?
Oh friend, I hope you know how much I think of you and pray for you.
You are constantly on my mind and in my heart.
Desperately, I long for you to experience Jesus, intimately, personally, and sweetly.
Many of us have a skewed view of Jesus due to many factors.
However, if we just pick up The Bible and read His Words, we begin to understand His ways and His love for us.
Often, we try to manipulate, change, or control what we want out of Jesus.
Ugh. How heartbreaking.
Trust me, I know, because I have been guilty of this.
Every day, I have been asking for a child-like faith.
I have been asking for God to restore and revive my faith in a way that is child-like with awe and wonder!
"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." -Jesus Matthew 18:3
As I ponder what this means, I think of my own children when they were small.
They were in awe of everything!
They noticed things that I did not notice…like ants crawling on the ground, or a beautiful starry night.
Their eyes were wide open in wonder.
They also trusted us, as their parents.
They trusted that their needs would be met each day.
They trusted that they could be their true selves and not hold back on any thoughts that were running through their little minds at any given time.
They expressed daily, their desires for what they wanted!
They did not hold back one thing that their little hearts desired.
Each Christmas, they handed me lists of things they wanted and hoped for.
Some were reasonable, some were not so reasonable! Ha!
As I think back on my children, I cannot help but to think those things are exactly the things God desires of us.
He wants us to talk to Him. About everything.
He wants us to vent to Him. About everything.
He wants us to admire and notice His Creation around us.
He wants us to ask for whatever our hearts desire, He already knows them anyway!
He wants us to feel safe with Him and trust Him.
But, somewhere along the way in our adult lives, things got complicated.
Hurt happened.
Grief happened.
Loss happened.
Unanswered prayers happened.
Oh friend, life has been hard and heavy, hasn’t it?
Oh, but He sees you!
Oh, but He has been with you all along!
He has never left you.
He collects every tear that falls from your beautiful eyes.
He knows the number of hairs on your precious head.
When did we stop trusting Him, believing Him, and not talking to Him?
Yes, we may go to church. Yes, we may say a morning prayer and read a quaint devotional.
But, are we talking to Him all day at all times?
Paul instructs us to “pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Do we pray for just the big things and forget to ask for the daily little things?
Just yesterday, I was praying for a parking space at an always crowded restaurant in downtown Athens.
When I pulled in, I saw a space! One space left!
It was during the lunch rush too! This never happens!
As soon, as I saw it, I saw another car coming from the opposite direction with young college girls in it.
Ugh. They saw it too and I could tell they were hoping I would not go for it.
Well, it would have taken me a while to try to pull into it because I had entered through the exit part of the parking. The angle was weird and I am not an expert “parker”. Ha!
I quietly thanked Jesus for the spot, but ended up letting them have it.
This may seem silly and small to some people, but to me it was huge.
God may not always answer our prayer. I have many prayers still unanswered at the moment that I have been praying for a long time.
However, the answer to a prayer is not the whole point.
The point is the relationship that develops, the trust that is restored and revived with our Father through constant communication.
The point is He wants ALL of our hearts…not just a snippet or a sliver.
We have become cynical.
Arms crossed and disappointed.
Cynics don’t have hope. They don’t have Joy. They don’t expect anything good to come.
Oh, goodness…this is the opposite of child-like faith.
God wants us to talk to Him, ask of Him, petition Him, worship Him, thank Him…
All. Day. Long.
Why?
It creates intimacy. It creates dependency. It creates a sweet trusting bond with Him.
He is in ALL things…
Even parking spaces.
I will keep asking,
jill
