I heard a sermon on facing our problems...
and it was really good. The guy (a pastor from Oregon) talked about the importance of doing that, of doing what we can against the problem (God doesn't ask to do more than we can), and then praising God for how He is going to take care of it. That got me thinking to no less than 3 situations in the past couple of years. All three seemed hopeless. But I decided to pray for God to work a miracle. And he did.
Situation number 1. The insurance I thought was going to go back in time and pick up old cancer bills wouldn't do that. So I was sitting on 15 grands worth of cancer bills. No job (this was a couple of years ago). No one knew of this outside of my immediate family. After I found out about it, I realized I didn't have the luxory to stress myself about it - I was in the heat of the battle for my health. So I did what I do when life seems overwhelming. I went for a walk and prayed. Out Loud. And as God always does, I see the creation He has made and it is a gentle reminder that He hasn't fallen off of His throne. He's still in charge. I just didn't see any possible way for it to work out. But after praying it through and realizing that He was in control, I just started praising Him that He was in charge of my financial situation. This was not easy. Worries constantly came up. But when a thought came I had to change the worry to a praise. Praise God that He will take care of it all. So how did the answer come? Some of it fast, some of it slow. The last bits of it are gone now. All 15 grand (or was it 14,500). In that first couple of months the vast majority of the medical companies just cancelled my bills after hearing my story. That's right four out of 6 bills were completly cancelled. The other two ended up accepting less than 50% of the cost of the bill. God blessed so my parents were able to offer 3000 dollars for me to have the last two eliminated.
Situation number 2. I am in the midst of chemo. As a result I am avoiding basically all public places because of germs. I feel half socially starved (I am an extreme extrovert) going into it because I haven't allowed myself to have friends in nearly three years (because I didn't have time for them because EVERYTHING revolved around health). And now the couple places I can go (church, Bible Study, etc.) I can't go to because they are a public place. But I prayed that God would somehow meet my need for socialization. Within 10 days, I had heard from quite a number of my closest friends (oddly enough from college, high school, a home school group, many different places) probably about 10 of them, and I really hadn't heard much of anything from any of them in a couple of years.
There are more situations. But that is enough for now. There is something beautiful in being in that place where everything is impossible but praising God for how it will work out, than watching how He works the miracle. Why does God so often answer prayers at our level of expectation? I don't know. But I have heard that preached many times, and that is what I have experienced.
Situation number 1. The insurance I thought was going to go back in time and pick up old cancer bills wouldn't do that. So I was sitting on 15 grands worth of cancer bills. No job (this was a couple of years ago). No one knew of this outside of my immediate family. After I found out about it, I realized I didn't have the luxory to stress myself about it - I was in the heat of the battle for my health. So I did what I do when life seems overwhelming. I went for a walk and prayed. Out Loud. And as God always does, I see the creation He has made and it is a gentle reminder that He hasn't fallen off of His throne. He's still in charge. I just didn't see any possible way for it to work out. But after praying it through and realizing that He was in control, I just started praising Him that He was in charge of my financial situation. This was not easy. Worries constantly came up. But when a thought came I had to change the worry to a praise. Praise God that He will take care of it all. So how did the answer come? Some of it fast, some of it slow. The last bits of it are gone now. All 15 grand (or was it 14,500). In that first couple of months the vast majority of the medical companies just cancelled my bills after hearing my story. That's right four out of 6 bills were completly cancelled. The other two ended up accepting less than 50% of the cost of the bill. God blessed so my parents were able to offer 3000 dollars for me to have the last two eliminated.
Situation number 2. I am in the midst of chemo. As a result I am avoiding basically all public places because of germs. I feel half socially starved (I am an extreme extrovert) going into it because I haven't allowed myself to have friends in nearly three years (because I didn't have time for them because EVERYTHING revolved around health). And now the couple places I can go (church, Bible Study, etc.) I can't go to because they are a public place. But I prayed that God would somehow meet my need for socialization. Within 10 days, I had heard from quite a number of my closest friends (oddly enough from college, high school, a home school group, many different places) probably about 10 of them, and I really hadn't heard much of anything from any of them in a couple of years.
There are more situations. But that is enough for now. There is something beautiful in being in that place where everything is impossible but praising God for how it will work out, than watching how He works the miracle. Why does God so often answer prayers at our level of expectation? I don't know. But I have heard that preached many times, and that is what I have experienced.
posted by Seltzer at 11:04 PM
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