Walk Boldly With Jesus

God Is In The Practical Things Too!

Episode Summary

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Today's episode talks about how we can ask God for practical things like wisdom, food, money, etc. It talks about how we don't have to just rely on God when all else fails, or when we are in an impossible situation. We can rely on God in all circumstances, the big and the small. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode Notes

God Is In The Practical Things Too!

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

I read this one and I really liked it because I think wisdom is something that we might not think to request from God.  I think we all feel pretty comfortable praying to God when we are sick or when a loved one is sick.  I don’t know if it is because we know God can heal people or if it is because we know there is nothing we can do and so we hope God can do something.  I think we tend to go to God as a last resort.  We try to solve things on our own and then if we can’t we turn to God.  Why do we save him for last?

God can do anything.  He created this whole Universe, he can surely help us with whatever it is we need help with.  Yet, we don’t always think to ask him unless it is something we know we can’t do ourselves, like heal a sickness.  It’s interesting because when you have to rely on God for more, you see him more.  My husband and my boys didn’t really see a lot of miracles from God when our kids were growing up.  Luckily my husband had a great job and he is really good with money.  We never really struggled with money and my kids never lacked anything with regards to food, clothing, roof over their heads.  We always had great medical insurance.  We were blessed with being able to live in other countries and travel to see things.  I am grateful that we didn’t have to struggle with those things.  

I am grateful and yet at times I wished we did have to struggle.  I know that probably sounds strange and I understand why it sounds strange.  Why would anyone want to have to struggle?  I don’t think I truly wanted to struggle, I did want the faith that comes with having to struggle though.  I wanted my kids to be able to see that God will always provide for us.  I wanted them to know that God would always be there to take care of their needs.  My parents struggled when I was growing up.  I mean they had 11 kids to take care of and my dad had a great job and yet money only goes so far.  Imagine paying the mortgage, electric, and heating bills for a house that fits that many children.  Imagine the food bill and then the clothing and the shoes.  Think about how much it costs for you to have one child play a sport, do dancing, or theatre and then multiply that by 11.  

My parents sacrificed a lot to have all of us kids.  There were months when they had to decide which bill they were going to pay and which one could wait until next month.  My mom was constantly on the phone with the bill collectors telling them she could send $5 a month or whatever it was she had.  I know it was hard on them and I don’t wish that on anyone.  And yet, I do wish everyone could have the faith that they have that God would take care of what they needed.  The knew without a doubt that they could call on Him for big things and small things.  They knew He would help with practical things, like food and a car, just as much as he would heal my sister of a mysterious illness.  

I know, and God knows, that I didn’t really want to experience the pain of not having enough, but I did want to the faith that comes with it.  I feel the Holy Spirit is pointing out to me that although I did not have to worry about resources like food, shelter or clothing, I did have to struggle.  My boys were pretty difficult at times and I did learn how to trust that God would be there in all the different ways.  I had to trust that God would save my child from being hit by a car when he would run down the middle of the street.  I had to trust that God would save my children from each other when they were at their worst.  I had to learn to trust that God would not let my children take their own lives.  I did have plenty of ways to build my trust, and you do too.

Maybe you don’t have such drastic things in your lives, but we are all struggling with something.  What causes you the most struggles and how can it help you trust God more?  Has your faith grown because of those struggles?  Can you look back at the past few years and see how God was there for you in the struggles?  For me, I can look back and see that God places the perfect people in my life at each and every base where we were stationed.  I was never alone.  I may have felt alone in my house, but I always had really good friends that would listen to me, they would build me up and they would support me.  They would also take the boys when I needed a break, or they would take me away for the weekend and Tony would keep the boys.  God also provided me with a strong Catholic Woman’s group, or the strength to start one if there wasn’t already one.  If you are not part of a Christian woman’s group or men’s group, you should find one.  I cannot tell you the strength you get from seeing other’s living their faith.  It is incredible.  

God can use your struggles to help build your faith, you just have to let Him.  If you look closely over your struggles you will see Him there.  You will see He has always been there and He will always be there! Getting back to this verse in particular, it says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” I wanted to share with you a quick story of a time when my dad really needed some wisdom and he got it!  My dad got a call from work one day from my mom.  She told him that one of their neighbors was upset with him because my dad had talked to his girlfriend about going back to church again.  Once she started going back to church she decided she couldn’t be with her boyfriend anymore.  I am not sure the exact circumstances for the breakup but that is why the man was mad at my dad.  My mom told my dad that the man said he was coming over tonight as soon as my dad got home from work to beat my dad up.  When my dad drove up to the house, he saw the man waiting for him in our front yard and all the neighborhood kids, including my siblings, standing around to watch the fight.  

As my dad got out of the car he started praying to God for wisdom for this situation.  He prayed that God would tell him what to say.  He prayed God would give him the words, and He did!  He walked up to the man and said, “I know you want to punch me and I understand why.  I know how much you are hurting inside and if punching me will take that hurt away then I will gladly accept that pain.” Or something to that affect.  Then he closed his eyes, bracing for the punch.  Instead the man started crying, my dad gave him a hug and they went inside and talked for a few hours.  My dad knows there is no way he would have come up with that on his own.  He asked God and God came through, just like He always does! I wish we all stopped to ask God what we should say before we said it.  Imagine what a kinder place this world would be if we all just stopped and asked God what we should say, or if we should even say anything, before we said it?  

If you take one thing away from this episode I hope it is that God is in the practical.  You can ask God for wisdom.  You can ask God for help making your decisions.  You can ask God to find you a new place to live.  You can ask God for the huge healing miracle you need.  You can ask God for food or for money to pay your bills.  You can ask God for anything. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be something you can’t do on your own.  God isn’t just for last resort types of prayers.  He wants to be in everything with you! Invite him in to the ordinary of your day.  Ask Him for the practical things you need and you will be surprised how He shows up.  Look for Him and you will find Him!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to look back and have the Holy Spirit open our eyes so we can where you were through all of our struggles.  Help us to see that you were there the whole time.  Help us to give you permission to use our struggles to build our faith.  Help us to turn to you, not just for the impossible things, but for the practical things as well.  We love you Lord, you are so incredible.  You are there for the big and the small.  Help us to see this Lord.  Help us to truly know this and help us come to you more.  Help us to remember to consult you when we have a difficult situation and we don’t know the words to say.  We are so grateful to have you on our side Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!  

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a blessed day!