CreedFeed Community - Lessons on God's Timing and Miracles in the Modern Day

"Not my will but Thine be done" Luke 22:42

Jesus said this in prayer to the Father. In as much as Jesus was God in the flesh, and as He was always teaching and giving the example for us to follow, it sometimes falls on us to come to the willingness to say "not my will but Thine be done."

It's a hard thing to do sometimes. We know what we want in our lives, we know what we want to happen, we think we know what need. How many times have we prayed and thought what we wanted or wanted to have happen was the right thing, and then when that prayer wasn't answered, we were left asking God why. Maybe we even got frustrated with God, and maybe out of those frustrations we even doubted God, or doubted our faith, or maybe some people even unfortunately wind up losing faith completely in God. Where was God in this situation? Why did this happen?

Something else that's hard at times is learning to be patient and accepting things at God's pace and on his timetable, whenever that is. We can be like spoiled little kids, wanting or expecting God to give us what we want right now. And when it doesn't happen, our instinct sometimes is to say "Come on God, where are you?" "I guess you don't care as much as I thought you did, or maybe you're not even there."

I'm going to share something here. This is the morning of April 3rd. Just over 6 weeks ago a young lady who was far too young to be in such a life threatening situation was severely injured in an automobile accident. She went into a coma. I didn't know this girl personally, although I do know her best friend. Her friend asked me to pray for her. So I did. I prayed for her and tried to keep her in my thoughts every day. I asked other people to pray. I went to another message board and asked, "Please pray for Celli". I started a page, a group on Facebook inviting people to join us in pray for Celli. That group grew slowly but steadily to about 200 or so people. We prayed, we kept Celli in our thoughts. Celli still lied there in her hospital bed in that coma. The doctors said she wasn't getting any better. Where was God? Did God even care? Was there even any point in praying? I'm sure a lot of people had those thoughts. I struggled with the thought myself of what if God's plans for Celli are different from ours. What if He calls her home with Him? What will that do to her family and to my friend, to their faith? I even wondered what it would do to mine.

But then, one eye opened part way one day for a moment. Then, both eyes opened a few days later. Then she started responding to voices. Then she regained the ability to breathe on her own, to eat on her own. She was able to sit up with some assistance, to stand up with some assistance. She started talking again. Today she's working hard in rehabilitation at one of the top facilities in the country for treating people with brain injuries, the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.

It would have been so easy to give up. That's what others wanted to do in the situation. They wanted to shut the door on Celli. The doctors said she wouldn't get better. The Shepherd Center at first said they couldn't do anything for her, her condition was too poor. They weren't going to accept her. Yet because there were at least hundreds, maybe thousands according to one person who was in our group, who took up Celli's cause, and because we have a God Who cares and Who listens, we stand here with Celli battling and walking down that road to recovery. It's still a long road, and right now we don't know when or where it ends. But what we do know is that she's on that road because God put her on it when the time was right, when she was ready. Maybe he didn't cause her to rise up out of that hospital bed that first day or even in the few weeks after. But when she was ready, He rose her up out of it.

I tend to consider this time of year more Passover than Easter. But regardless of what you call it, I'm reminded that Jesus was crucified on that cross. When He was, I'm sure his disciples, his mother, and others were discouraged . They wanted Him off that cross, they wanted Him out of that tomb. But we know that God had a plan, and a timetable. And when the time was right, Jesus did come out of that tomb, and it's because of that same power, that same authority, and that same love and grace that not only has Celli in rehab today, but changes lives, washes sins away, heals broken bodies and broken spirits, and gives eternal life to whomsoever would believe.

Praise God and thank you Jesus for being that Passover sacrifice, for being a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and for having the authority and the love and mercy to still heal and silence the doubters today.

Jason