About a year ago, right after I published my first blog post, a girl messaged me and said, “I read your post on God and was wondering, what process did you go through to find The Lord because I have gone to church and I pray about it but seem to get nothing.” Her exact words. At the time, I had no clue what to say to her, because honestly, I did not know the answer. Throughout my spiritual journey, God has enlightened me on this matter. I, too, often feel like I am spiritually disconnected with God, and it is the most discouraging thing for me so I force it. I forced something that does not need to be forced.
Today was a good day for me. It was a good day because i stepped out of my comfort zone and obeyed God. Literally, all glory to God. Every Sunday morning, I attend church with my best friend. Last night, I selfishly did not set an alarm for church because I stayed up until 2 AM watching One Tree Hill. Amazingly, I woke up right at 6:45 AM. Coincidence? No. God wanted me up, and He wanted me at church.
Rewind to many weeks ago when I attended a different church for the first time with my good friend and her mom. At this church, they were beginning a series on the story of Jonah. Lucky for me, I was there for the first day of the series, and I really connected with the service. There was a voice (God, duh) in my head telling me that this is the church I am meant to be at. Unfortunately, I did not obey him, and I continued to go to a church where I knew everyone and I was comfortable at.
Okay, now back to this morning. I did not wake up at 6:45 by mistake. I knew that God wanted me to go to the church where I felt such a strong connection, but I really did not want to get out of bed. God wrestled with my thoughts for about 2 hours, and somewhere in between there I think I watched another episode of One Tree Hill. Eventually, I forced myself to get in the shower and get ready, and by that time, it was 9:45. Church starts at 10. The last time I had visited this church, my friend was driving, and I paid absolutely no attention to where we were going. Therefore, this morning, I typed the address into my phone and pulled up right at 10. It did not look like the same place I had previously been to, and thankfully, a girl was walking by and I asked here where I was. I definitely was not at the right place, instead, I was at their old location, but ironically, she knew exactly where the new location was. Irritated, I turned around to go back home because I was not about to walk into church late. But, God had a different plan, so I just went with it.
By no surprise, I connected even more with this service than the last, and at that point, I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. After the final worship song, I was ready to get my stuff together and leave, but the pastor asked everyone to sit down. His prayer was, “Church, I want to thank you for coming. Even when you may not have wanted to come. If that is you this morning, I just want you to know that you were brought here because of God, and He wants to reignite your faith.” My favorite part about this is that if I would not have obeyed God, I would not have learned what I did today.
The two main things that I want you to take away from this are:
♥ Trust in God even when you do not understand.
♥ Obey God even when you do not want to.
So next time you wonder why God isn’t moving in your or working in you, take a step back and ask yourself if you are really surrendering fully to Christ. I’ve learned three things from God’s word about prayers and unanswered prayers. God hears all of your prayers. If you do not feel connected with God, the hard truth is that it’s not God, it’s you. We all go through highs and lows in our spiritual walk with Christ, but if you really want to see God move in your life you must:
- Believe that God is able.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6)
- Obey God when He asks or tells you to do something
He replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 11:28)
- Trust that God’s plan is better than anything you could ever do yourself
He that trusts in his own heart is a fool: but whoever walks wisely, he shall be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26)
xoxo
H
Life as an Alexander 