Matthew 7:7 New Living Translation (NLT)
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
This scripture has played a pivotal role throughout my life, down to this day. While the Lord does speak to me and gives me many answers, as He can with anyone, there are many times that He doesn’t. And boy, when He doesn’t and I am continuing to suffer through whatever the issue or circumstance is at the time, it is so frustrating and discouraging to my heart. I have even been known to throw a temper tantrum or two at Him.
Side note: Often when we are angry or frustrated at the Lord (even though He doesn’t ever deserve it), we pull away from Him and start giving Him the silent treatment. While it saddens His heart when we do, the only ones that are really being hurt by it is you and I. After one particular tantrum I threw, I shared it the next day with a dear and Godly man and he replied calmly and without shock, “Well, at least you’re talking to Him.” I have never forgotten that. He would rather hear our hurt and anger even, than not hear from us at all.
Okay, back to the point of this article. We all have experienced the pain of suffering (the form doesn’t matter) and not knowing what the heck is going on. We pray, we cry out, we read our Bibles, we go to church and fellowship with brothers and sisters that we can be transparent with, desperately hoping that the Lord is showing them something that they can share to give us insight. And yet, sometimes there is just nothing.
So, after months of doing exactly what Matthew 7:7 says, with no seeming results at all, the Lord has begun to lead me out of the “wilderness” of suffering, anger and confusion due to things that transpired in my life. But He did NOT do it on my timeline! Those of you that know me or have read older blog entries, know that Romans 8:28 is my favorite verse in the entire Bible. If you are not familiar with it, it’s okay. I don’t know anyone that is familiar with every verse in the Bible! It says this, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
So, as His daughter and you as His daughters and sons, can stand firmly on that verse. Now, in the spirit of transparency, it is crucial to take note of the latter part of that verse. This verse is not applicable to everyone on this planet. If you read it again, you will see that all things work for good for “those who love Him”. But I am going to assume that most people reading this are those that love the Lord. And if you are reading this and don’t really know the Lord and therefore don’t really love Him, (after all, how can you love someone you don’t know?) I would love for you to reach out to me and either I or another trusted woman or man of the Lord would be thrilled to tell you all about Him and His great love for you.
But for those of you that already love the Lord, you should allow this scripture to be an anchor for you during extremely difficult times. Not too long ago, I was in my garage, I was crying out loud to the Lord and I told Him with frustration, “You know, despite all I am feeling right now, I KNOW that Romans 8:28 is true! BUT! I am fascinated to see how You are going to use all of THIS to my benefit!!” And yet despite my anguish, I did know with certainty, in that moment, that He was working. And that did give me a measure of peace, even if, in honesty, it was brief. But I did continue to have those moments of peace whenever I would think about that scripture. And let’s not lose what I consider to be the most powerful part of that verse. “in ALL things God works for the good….” Wow! That means that there is absolutely nothing that happens in our lives that is a waste. He uses it all. This verse has so much power in my life because the Lord actually showed me how He has used my childhood abuse for my good! And it’s true for us all.
So, imagine the power given to us to have more peace and less anguish when we combine Matthew 7:7 and Romans 8:28! Jesus clearly tells us that if we don’t give up in the asking, in the seeking and in the knocking, He WILL show up. Maybe not when WE want Him to, after all the scripture doesn’t say anything about how long we have to be asking, seeking and knocking, BUT we are guaranteed that He will respond to us. AND then, while in the midst of waiting, we can cling to Romans 8:28 and know that He is using our circumstances to do something good in us, through us or for us. And whichever one it is, IT IS GOOD!
Comments