Prayer That Asks "God What Are You Doing With This?"

 WHAT IS GOD DOING?

Our thoughts are often drawn first to the hardships and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic but it’s been in my heart these days to take a few moments to ask God, “God what are You    doing?  How are You involved in all the things that are going on?  What are You longing to see result from these very difficult times we are going through?

Many of us know the story of Joseph in the Bible who had all kinds of unfair things happen to him.  For many years he suffered hardship and then the day came where everything was in place so God could elevate Joseph from a dark and dirty prison cell to becoming the second in command in the king’s palace.

Years later when Joseph’s brothers – the guys who had started off the whole cycle of difficulty in Joseph’s life – were in a position where Joseph could have gotten revenge for all the suffering he’d had to endure because of them Joseph, with a much wider frame of reference told them:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:12

Not everything that happens in this life, and of particular concern to us, I guess, are the things that happen to us.  Many difficult and sad things come into the lives of all of us.  Sometimes they show up every now and then. At other times they just seem to come and keep coming until we sometimes feel pretty overwhelmed.

It’s easy in those moment to think that God has abandoned us or God doesn’t care or God’s not able to do much.  The wonderful reality is that even though these things come along, God is working out good purposes that will benefit us in the long run.

The words of Romans 8:28 are not just some nice sounding platitudes for someone else at some other time.  They are words to give us hope today in the middle of whatever is difficult for us today.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

God invites us today to bring everything that is going on – the good the bad, what we think we understand and what makes our heads spin – bring it all to God and surrender it to Him, welcoming Him to work good in us and in what’s going on.

This is how we find peace and joy today.  This is how we co-operate with God in seeing good things of His kingdom override what’s going on around us.   We find contentment in imperfect circumstances and God is able to do things – like He did with Joseph  over the long term – that will amaze us some day when we look back and see how God used even these days and these hard things for good.  Today God invites us to:

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable

 things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

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. 

James 1:5

Heavenly Father, we’re both grateful and amazed that You invite us to call to You and You promise not only to hear us but to answer us and to show us great and unsearchable things we wouldn’t be able to figure out on our own.  You promise that when we don’t know what to do and how to sort things out, that if we will just ask You, You will gladly give us wisdom and understanding.

We know you have a wonderful plan for our lives, including the lessons we are learning during this pandemic – even the weaknesses and character defects that are being laid bare by the pressures and changes going on around us.  We know that no day and no set of circumstances is wasted with You.  In every moment there is a lesson for us as You rebuild us according to Your original plan.  As we said a moment ago, even our mistakes can be used by You to bless others and help all of us know how much You love us and how great Your power to transform, save, and bless us really is. 

Lord today, would You help us to continue to pay attention to your voice both by reading Your word and by praying and listening for Your direction and application of what we read and what You know we need to become conscious of so we tackle today’s issues with grace and truth.  We trust Your promise that if we do this, we will have a day that is better than we ever could have thought or imagined and that You will work all things together for our good.  Amen