I have always known that God answers prayers, and I have seen Him move in miraculous, undeniable ways. However, I admit that I am guilty of not always bringing Him my day-to-day challenges. I suppose I feel that I bother Him enough, and He’s probably pretty busy with more important things anyway! This was my mind-set while listening to my church pastor’s message about allowing God to illuminate solutions.
I was having a really difficult time juggling my many responsibilities in life – mothering three children, working part-time, helping my husband with his business, doing church activities, etc. Like many women, I was feeling very overwhelmed and a little self-defeated. The main area of my life where things were coming to a head was keeping up with the housework.
I distinctly remember mopping the kitchen floor on Sunday after listening to my pastor’s message and meditating on the scripture, as well as thinking about all the things around the house that needed to be done (we women must multi-task, even if only mentally, right?). I was praying very earnestly that God would show me a way to fix everything.
All of a sudden, the thought came into my mind: “Why don’t I promote Briannah’s household responsibilities? She’s been doing the same ones for three years. And while I’m at it, I can give Richard some of Briannah’s old chores. And why isn’t the three year old helping at all?” Now this might sound like common sense to many people, but I had never thought of it!
Sometimes we’re so involved with a situation that we can’t see clearly the solution. This was, I know, the prompting of God giving me an answer to a problem that I could not fix myself. God truly is interested in the day-to-day operation of my life! I had been boxing Him in, assuming that He was a far-off God, not powerful enough to manage my problems.
By the way, Briannah was thrilled to be promoted with new responsibilities – can’t say the same for the boys, though. I’ll just entrust that to God, too!
Memory Verse:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
– Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Prayer Prompt:
“Father, help me to remember that I should always come to You first with issues in my life. Forgive me for assuming that You don’t care enough to help me in my day-to-day life. Show me Your guidance and help me specifically with these areas…”
Contributing Writer:
Tammi Slavin
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