Romans 8:28
We know that not all things are good. How can the cancer be good? How can the loss of a loved one be good? This passage doesn’t say all things are good but that they work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. We may not in this lifetime see answers to why we must suffer. God is always faithful to His promises and when He says all things will work together for good for us, it’s a done deal. It will happen! Even if we do not live to see it, it will happen.
One of the most important principles of prayer that we need to grasp is that prayer is to align our wills with God’s will. We want to reverse God’s plan and try to align His will with ours. Just because God has given us the privilege of praying does not put us in control. God is not there as our personal servant to accomplish our wills. He wants us to pray that His will will be done so we can align our lives with what He has already purposed. Prayer is not to change God as much as it is to change ourselves so God can eventually work all things for good in our lives.
Our constant pleas for God to do something that we want may be a barrier to God working His will for good in our lives. It is resistance on our part because He may have purposed something already and we want something different. If we pray for His will to be done and genuinely mean it, we will submit to His will and stop praying for our own. It’s so easy to say, “Thy will be done”, and go right on praying for our own desires. Just because what we want is not something wrong does not make it in agreement with God’s will. When we have learned to accept the Father’s will it is only then that He can begin working the good that He intends in our lives or at least that we begin to recognize it.
What He considers good in our lives and what we consider good may be exact opposites. We may be blinded to His will by our desires. We want our prayers to be answered our way and anything else is construed as God not answering our prayers. I have even gotten angry with God and felt betrayed. How could He do this to me after all I have done for Him? How arrogant of me. He doesn’t have to do anything for me yet He has done so much and I am so ungrateful that I get angry because He doesn’t do things my way. How childish of me.
I can’t begin to tell you why you have to suffer and I must admit that I cannot fully identify with the suffering many have experienced but I can urge you to rely on the promises of God’s Word. He has said He will not leave us nor cause us to suffer beyond what we are capable of handling. Be sure you grasp this principle well, “We can handle a lot more when we can accept His will”. Giving verbal assent to accepting His will without heartfelt acceptance may serve to confuse us.
Pray that you will be able to accept God’s will even though you may not fully understand it. Pray that you can align your will with His rather than to seek to align His will with yours. Pray that you can learn and grow by yielding to His will even though it is not what you want. Pray for those who may be suffering that they will be comforted by the Spirit’s presence and that they can allow the will of God to operate unobstructed.
Father, I thank you that you have not always answered my prayers as I have prayed them. I have asked amiss so many times out of ignorance of your will and out of misdirected desires that if You had given me what I wanted, my life would be a bigger mess than it is now. Please help me to seek to know Your will and obediently align my life with it regardless of my desires. I know there are some things in my life that I cannot change and some that I can. Grant to me the wisdom to know what I cannot change and the strength to accept those things as Your will and to make them my will. Give me the integrity and fortitude to change the things that I can change in my life as I seek to be obedient.
