Katy Bonham, GFC Lutz
Have you ever prayed about something and felt like perhaps God didn’t answer you, you missed His answer or maybe the ask was just so silly He laughed at it and moved on to someone else with better prayers? I want to share a seemingly silly story with you that was the catalyst of how God allowed us to have a line of communication like I had never imagined before.
In our first few months of marriage my husband and I chatted about buying a TV because he had been watching sports and I had been watching hallmark movies on my iMac. It came up in conversation that it may be silly to invite friends over to watch the game on our computer that sat on the kitchen counter! We found a TV shortly after and we had a gift card from our wedding to use for part of the cost! (Woohoo for saving money!) We went to pick it up and it ended up being out of stock. We found a different store and drove there because they said they had one! We arrived only to find that it was missing the remote and had a big scratch on it. No thanks! We went home and just ordered one online to be picked up in a store at a later date. Then, that date got pushed back again and again until we finally canceled it.
This is where the question turned conversation with God started.
“Hi God, this feels like such a funny thing to pray about. We would like a TV! We have tried and hit some road blocks in the process... we would like to use this gift card, we would like it soon! Could you please give us some direction?” One morning shortly after this prayer I opened my Bible up but just found myself staring out the window at the pretty sunrise over the lake (we were renting a house with a beautiful view at the time, it was definitely a big beautiful distraction sometimes. But, not today. God was going to use it to steer my thoughts in a new direction! (Just what I had prayed for.)
I loved making that house feel like our home, though we were just renting it. I loved finding things that made it more our style with colors we liked and pretty things that made it more cheery. I got to thinking about how the TV would look and where we would put it once we did get one. We couldn’t hang it on the wall, we couldn’t get a bulky TV stand and we couldn’t put it on the kitchen counter! I needed to better think this through and prepare a space.
This was my lightbulb moment.
How many times have I prayed for something that, looking back on, I would have been unprepared in some way for?
More times than I can count come to mind.
This thought about preparing a space spurred on a whole new line of communication between the Holy Spirit and me.
When it comes to a praying about a purchase, for meaningful friendships, to be a mother, buy a home, for healing, for God to move in my life… I don’t have to just sit and wait!
I often hear Him kindly remind me of some of the parts I play in our relationship. I can ask a question, thank Him, plead for something, just give an update on my day… I can also actively listen! Communication is more than saying something a certain way, it’s listening well. When I felt silly but still prayed about a TV a decade ago, He gave me the gift of so much MORE than that. He used it to start an ongoing conversation that is still happening to this very day.
Isn’t it just like God to use something seemingly small and unimportant to teach us some of the most important things we can learn? We did get a TV, eventually. Only after getting a cute little stand and finding the right spot for it in the room. This all of course was not according to my "original plans". (wink, wink)
We got pregnant again after having a miscarriage... Boy, was that different than the plans I had.
We bought a house... but not without losing that house in 3 bidding wars over the course of a year before it was finally ours.
I was also healed of a lung disease but not without suffering with it for 26 years of my life.
And there are more and more and more stories I could write of the goodness of God and His plans!
God’s plans > My plans.
They are different than mine and I am so grateful. The Word says His ways are higher than mine, that He is for me and that with Him anything is possible!
Everything is possible for one who believes. Mark 9:23
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God". Luke 18:27
I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27
My hope is that this story is encouraging to you and the way you talk to God but also how we can tune our ears for His response! My challenge is this: Try thinking for a moment about how you can be “preparing the space” that you may be asking God to fill right now. He may surprise you with how He answers your prayers!