DCLM Sincere Milk 26 NOVEMBER 2021 — This is Not What I asked For
DCLM Sincere Milk 26 NOVEMBER 2021 — This is Not What I asked For
TOPIC: “THIS IS NOT WHAT I ASKED FOR”
TEXT: ISAIAH 55:8-11
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Key Verse: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
MESSAGE:
There are times when we, our friends and even parents pray, and the answer comes in an entirely different way from what we expected. This has happened to others before, and there are lessons to learn from it.
There was a famine (time of shortage of food) in the land of Israel. God told Elijah to go to the widow of Zarephath, to sustain and feed him. A widow would likely not have been the answer Elijah expected. He might have expected to see a very rich woman.
Alas! The woman was a poor widow who had just a small quantity of food left. Elijah obeyed God; he went ahead and was preserved throughout the time of famine (1 Kings 17:8-16).
Naaman was a great man from Syria, but he was a leper. Prophet Elisha asked him to wash himself seven times in River Jordan to be healed, different from what he expected. He thought the prophet would come out and lay his hand on him and heal him. He would have missed his miracle if he had not obeyed Elisha.
After praying, we must do as God commands because He knows more than we do. We also need to be thankful to God for whatever we have now, though it may look “small” and different from what we expected.
God knows better. The answer He gives may look different from what you expect, but whatever God does always turn out to be the best.
Prayer: Father, help me to always trust and obey You even when I do not understand.
Further Reading: Exodus 16:11-15
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
