Sometimes life feels like slogging through molasses. You pray and pray and pray and pray, but it feels like God isn't listening. I know that you have been praying hard about that difficult situation, the one that you are so hoping that God will do a miracle in. You may be asking yourself, “What else can I do? How else can I pray?” You may be asking God, “What do I have to do for You to move in this situation?” Believe me I have been there. I have pleaded and pursued God in some of my most desperate times only to find the situation worse or, at least, exactly the same.
That loved one you are asking God to change isn’t changing at all. You know you are praying according to His will because you are praying for their salvation, but they seem to be moving further away from God.“What is happening, God? Why is this happening? Where are You?!!! Don’t You care about my pain? Why does there seem to be no... progress...at...all?!!!!”
Where is God in those times? What are we supposed to do?
Shift your focus: Times like these are hard. I know it. I really do!. But one thing I have learned is to shift my focus away from the person who is my problem, away from the unchanging circumstance and onto the never-changing God.
In a time when a loved one was severely struggling I remember kneeling by my bed pleading with God and asking Him to move in their life, to help them get past this. I prayed for an end to their struggle. All of that sounds good on the surface, doesn’t it? What could be wrong with pleading with God for a loved one? As I was in the midst of my fervent prayers I felt God telling me to stop. The Holy Spirit shone His light of conviction into my heart and showed me that my prayers weren't really for my loved one. They were for me! If their problem was solved, then my life would be easier. I wouldn’t have to walk through the pain their struggle caused me.
Once I recognized the selfishness of my prayers I didn’t trust my motivation to pray for them anymore. I had to stop praying for my loved one and start looking to God for what I needed in order to make it through the time of trial. I had to keep my eyes on Jesus and stay as close to Him as I could in order to make it from day to day.
Remember the promise. Here is the promise from Jesus that we don’t like to think about. He said in John 16:31 that we WILL have trouble in this world. We WILL. There is no getting around it. The preachers who make you feel like everything will be wonderful if you just surrender to Jesus are skirting what they know is true. It is more popular to avoid the reality of problems. I am not saying that they are intentionally lying, but they are doing what we all naturally want to do. They are avoiding the reality of trouble. But Jesus promised it. He PROMISED it. “Well, that isn’t what I wanted to hear,” you say. I understand, but with the promise of trouble is also the promise that He has overcome the world.
What does that mean? It means that His victory on the cross over sin and death is the ultimate victory over every circumstance in our lives that is the result of sin and death. The unkind co-worker, the wayward child, the terminal illness, your loved one’s dementia. All of those things are the result of sin and death in this world, but Jesus has overcome them. Hallelujah! The difficulty for you and me is that we don’t always see that victory in the way we want it, and when we want it. We have to take heart in the fact that the victory HAS been won. We may not see it this side of heaven, but WE WILL SEE IT.
The issue with my loved one lasted much longer than I ever imagined, more than a year and a half. As I shifted my focus away from them and onto receiving what I needed from God I found my perspective changing. The dark time hung on and I began to wonder if my loved one would ever return to a normal outlook. I wondered if this was what I would be living with for the rest of my life. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but I had been receiving the grace I needed to learn to function as normally as I could, even with my loved one’s altered perspective. I had been able to laugh again and enjoy life, in spite of the continued difficulty. I found that I had many things to be thankful for, and even though my life was not as I would wish, I told God that if this was what life was going to be like, then I would learn to be satisfied in Him. He was overcoming the world in me. That was victory.
Thank God for His victory in that situation, even though you aren’t seeing it. Remember, the victory is already won! It is! Whether we see it or not does not change the fact that Jesus is victorious. In the situation that I have been telling you about there came a day when everything turned around, the cloud lifted and that struggle was over. I saw that victory. But there are other circumstances in my life where I am still waiting to see the breakthrough. You are, too. How can you and I handle it when we don’t see the victory?
At the beginning of this year I felt God telling me to start thanking Him for the victories that I am not seeing. To thank Him for being at work whether I see it or not. I have been doing that. I’d like to be able to say that I’ve seen a change in those circumstances, but I haven’t. The change has been inside of me. As I have thanked Him for the changes that I can’t see, I have grown in hope. I have become more aware of my need to trust. I look toward the future and truly believe that I will see the victory. In the end, He wins and because He wins, I win. And, by the way, you win, too!
Dear One, what you are going through is hard. There is no doubt about it. But as you shift your focus off the struggle and begin to thank God for the day when you will see the victory fulfilled, whether in this life or in the life to come, you will begin to experience victory within. As your perspective changes you will find yourself able to persevere with hope.
He is victorious. That is the truth. Whether we see it or not, does not change the truth of His victory. We live in victory when we focus on His ultimate victory, not the apparent defeat we see. Be thankful, Dear One.. That is victory.
Key thought: Thank God for the victories you can’t yet see.
A Scripture to consider: “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 MSG
A YES challenge: Take some time to intentionally thank God for the work He is doing in your current situation, even if you can’t see it. Set a reminder in your phone each day this week to take time to be thankful. At the end of the week, evaluate how thankfulness has affected your perspective.
Prayer: Lord, I choose to thank You for the victory that I am not yet seeing. You promised that in this world we would have trouble, but you also promised that You have overcome the world. Overcome the world in me. Change my focus and my perspective so that I can give thanks to You no matter what. You are my hope and You are my joy. Amen.