Life is busy. It always has been, nothing has really changed. It always will be too, but is it busy with the right things? That may be another topic entirely, but the busyness is still hard. Yet is is incredibly more important to make time for God when it is hard.
Time for and with God can look like many different things. The consistent time in His Word and memorizing scripture is a great spiritual discipline, as well as praying unceasingly. While some of these things may be hard to start or already practices, there are still things that are looked over in everyday lives that I personally look over, as I’m sure everyone else does too.
I read something recently that said, “You are living in an unanswered prayer.” This made me think of all the things I pray about, the things in which make me anxious, the ways I want to grow, and maybe…just maybe the ways I need to grow.
This semester the common theme of my prayers has been to learn to trust God more. While life is a hurricane, to be an unshakable tree, rooted in Christ alone. Being human, I place my identities in other things, my anxieties spike, and my tree is quite malleable. What does it mean to live in an unanswered prayer?
It means to find every moment Holy; to find God in the everyday things, both good and bad, because He knows what you need.
If you had God’s power, you would change a lot of things. If you had His wisdom, you wouldn’t change a thing. Everything that happens, all the good and bad things found in the busyness of life. That is all for you. That is for you to learn to trust God, to find Him in all things, and to make every moment Holy. Recently, I was gently reminded by a close friend, “Remember the joy in suffering”(Romans 5).
I see God in the anxiety. In the long hard days, where rest is nowhere to be found because your mind is your own prison and the key is in your hand. I see God in the hours inside my own head, overthinking about the worst possible cases, and playing countless hours of “what if” to see if I am enough. I see God in the restless nights, where comfort and peace left long ago and let doubt and insecurity in on their way out.
I see God in the tension of relationships and friendships. The tension that takes time and patience, which as a “fix it now” person, is the hardest thing ever. I see God in the growth, both in the unseen growing of roots, and the visible bearing of fruit. Growing in hard, but necessary. I see God in the nights of rebuke, forgiveness, repentance, and grace, both in relation to others, and especially myself.
I see God in the health issues; both big and small. The inexplicable nature, the uncertainty, and the loss of control. I see God in the sadness, where the ship is sinking, but Paul still says, “God has granted you all [safety to] those who sail with you”(Acts 22). I see God when He brings me to my knees, back on my knees to depend on Him.
I see God in the waiting. Trust is built not over one experience, but a multitude of consistent opportunities. This is hard, to let trust take its time, after many untrustworthy experiences. I see God in the progress, where its purpose is to release us from the pressures of perfection. I see God in the met and unmet expectations, both for us and for others.
I see God in the insecurities; no matter where they came from, how old or new, how much hurt they bring. All of them. “Every time a man knocks on a brothel door, he is really knocking for God”(Chesterton). I see God in the vain search for security in anything but Him. Sometimes, finding what you need takes many times finding what you don’t need.
This is just one way I have found to make every moment holy; cherishing the small things and acknowledging that what I prayed for(growth and trust in God) may look like going through anxieties, insecurities, and waiting. We are living in our unanswered prayers. Just because I can list some hardships and how I see God through them by no means illustrate my consistent trust in God. That would be naive. If only faith worked like a light switch. Personally, it is far from consistent trust, but understanding that God works through the hardship for my good is a start.
Of course, it is much easier to find God in the good and happy times, but the measurement of a person does not come during comfortability and security, but when they are faced with trials and adversity.
Remember the joys in suffering. Remember that you are His and nothing can separate you from His reckless love. Remember to breathe, life is tough, but being tough on yourself doesn’t make it any better.
Where do you see God?
How can you make every moment Holy?
Are you living in an unanswered prayer?
I can feel the memories again
In this field of foreign oxygen
I’m awake without the medicine
I forgot the joy of suffering
I’d lose it all to find you now
Find you now, find you now
Life is loud
All around
Sight and sound
Lost and found
Cross and crown
-“Oxygen”(Kings Kaleidoscope)
The Looking Glass Blog 