How do you feel when you pray? Do you peacefully share your burdens with God, confidently believing that His response will fix your problems and ease your pain? Or do you find yourself hoping and pleading that God will do what seems right to you?
I confess that, more regularly than I wish, I find myself in that second category. My prayers can feel more like pleas because I know that God may not grant what I’m requesting. My head understands that He may have a better solution, but my heart wants to avoid disappointment and emotional suffering. If I can’t understand why His will differs from mine, my mind starts churning, trying to figure out how God’s will could be different than my good plan. I certainly don’t feel the “peace that surpasses all understanding” while trying to lay some of my burdens at the feet of God.
Can you relate to this? If we must choose between sickness or health, community or isolation, financial stability or constant lack, or even a clear answer from the heavens instead of silence, there is no doubt which choice seems like the right one. How could God’s will be different from any of those obvious outcomes?
Some of you may be nodding your head because you relate to this, but others of you may feel a responsibility to remind me that God’s will is better than mine, even when I can’t understand it.
And you know what? I believe that. I really do. It’s just that trying to accept something that I can’t understand makes me feel uneasy.
If only God would share His plan with me, I would trust Him and accept what’s ahead. But God doesn’t do that because He wants us to have faith in Him. Faith is a necessary part of any relationship.
Faith versus Fear.
We all lean one way or the other. We can even slant in different ways depending on our situation. Sometimes, my prayers arrive in heaven wrapped up in pretty packages of faith, but when the stakes are high, all bets are off. That’s when uncertainty and doubt cloud my faith and cause my requests to crawl into heaven covered in apprehension, desperation, and fear.
How can we change our perspective so our prayer lives are more frequently filled with faith, especially when it comes to trusting God with big and impactful situations?
Recently God reminded me of two devoted Biblical characters who both received an unlikely prophecy from God. One reacted faithfully and was blessed while the other expressed doubt and lost the opportunity to rejoice in God’s miraculous provision. These two people are Mary and Zechariah.
Mary was a teenager who was in love, engaged, and a faithful virgin. An angel appeared to her and announced that she was pregnant with God’s child. Mary had kept God’s commands regarding purity, so she wondered how this could be. Even though she was puzzled over the logistics, she faithfully accepted God’s will and trusted His plan for her life. Mary didn’t understand, but she didn’t doubt or question her miraculous situation.
Zechariah was a righteous Jew married to another righteous Jew named Elizabeth. These two God-fearing people both kept the commandments of the Lord. The same angel who appeared to Mary showed himself to Zechariah and told him that Elizabeth was pregnant. Now Elizabeth was menopausal, so Zechariah didn’t understand how this was possible. Instead of believing God faithfully, Zechariah expressed doubt, and his skepticism prompted God to keep him from speaking until the child was born.
In these stories, the same angel appeared with the same news to two different righteous Jews, and one accepted the news with faith while the other one reacted with doubt.
You may not have received a heavenly newsflash forecasting an upcoming miracle in your life, but you may be grappling with a difficult, confusing or unwanted circumstance in your life right now.
What can we learn from Mary and Zechariah that will help us lean more toward faith and away from fear when we pray, especially when we know that God’s will may be different from ours?
The first thing to notice in the stories of Zechariah and Mary is God’s holiness. Our doubt and fear don’t cause God to change His faultless plan. He knows the perfect way to write our story regardless of our understanding. God doesn’t rethink things when we wrestle with surprising and undesirable situations, but God equips us to handle them.
May the God of peace…equip you with everything good that you may do his will.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)
God didn’t make Zechariah and Elizabeth younger, but he gave them everything they needed to raise their son. If God allows something in our lives, He will also help us handle it.
Another thing to observe about doubt versus faith is what we lose when we doubt God’s plan. Zechariah’s doubt prevented from being able to glorify the Lord when Elizabeth discovered her miraculous pregnancy. We glorify God when we praise Him, proclaim His greatness, and tell the world what He has done in our lives. We can’t share God’s power in our lives if we resist His perfect will. A surrendered person captivates our attention by their ability to be at peace despite the chaos in their lives. God is glorified because we see His supernatural power at work. Suffering silently and then sharing after the fact is much less powerful because the uncertainty is over and the outcome is secure. Glorifying God is one way we share the good news of Jesus with others, and we miss that opportunity when we give into fear. God doesn’t close our mouths when we lean toward fear. We close them ourselves and in doing so, lose the ability to powerfully glorify God.
The last observation to glean from Mary and Zechariah is how our faith facilitates awe at God’s power in our lives, while our fear prevents us from experiencing this. Although Mary didn’t understand how being pregnant as an unwed virgin was a good situation, her acceptance of God’s brought wonderment at His provision while she lived out his desire for her. She felt excitement as she traded pregnancy stories with Elizabeth, she experienced elation that God was accomplishing His plan for a Savior through her, and she treasured the words of the shepherds when they brought confirmation that her child would fulfill a world-altering destiny. Walking in God’s will may bring apprehension, but it also brings exhilaration. In contrast, Zechariah’s doubt kept him from feeling marveling at God’s miraculous ability to carry out His perfect will.
Remembering these two very similar situations but different reactions from faithful Mary and fearful Zechariah reminds us that God has a plan for our lives and it’s a good plan. We may not understand His agenda but we can trust it, even when at first it doesn’t seem to make sense. God works in impossible situations, and when we trust him in those, we experience His power, we glorify Him, and feel the joy of his provision.
Where do you fall between fear and faith?
If you find yourself feeling more fearful than faithful, you should tell God about your doubt (He already knows) and ask Him for the faith to believe. He has the strength and ability to change hearts. Then when the stakes are high, He gives us the faith we requested, even when we can’t understand His plan.
We all struggle with “faith versus fear”, but we don’t need to continue to struggle. Ask God today to increase your faith. What do you have to lose?
At MomQ we believe that motherhood is a calling from God. While it is both a privilege and an honor, it is by no means easy! Moms have a lot of questions/concerns and need caring support along their journey. Whether you are a brand new mom or a little more seasoned, MomQ is here to help you fulfill your God given role. Don’t see a group in your area? Contact us today about starting one in your community!
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