Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
1 Chronicles 16:8
Dear God, this was the beginning of David’s song as they moved the Ark to Jerusalem. What a time that must have been.
As I sat down to write this prayer to you this morning, I received a Happy Thanksgiving text from and old friend. About four or five years ago he went through a similar struggle to what I went through about six or seven years ago. I replied to his text that we both have a lot to be grateful for because you have really heard our prayers. You might not have answered them the way we hoped you would, but you helped us to endure and then you have let your plan unfold.
I’ll admit that I don’t always like your plan, but I have learned enough over the last few years to understand that I need to be grateful for what you are doing that I cannot see. I need to trust you and be faithful. Anyone reading these prayers knows I am a huge football fan, and a Baylor alum. Our coach talks a lot about the process. When he was new and they hadn’t played a game yet, he talked about the process. When the team went 1-11 in his first year, people mocked his process. Now that they are 10-1 this season, people are paying attention. But what is the process? Here is a link to an interview he gave this week about the upcoming game against Kansas. It’s the first time I’ve heard him specifically reference what the process is. The process part starts at the 3:00 mark:
So, according to Coach Rhule, the process is simply getting better every week. You take your eyes off of what you consider to be winning and you just grind to get better. Applied to life, I think that means ignoring what I perceive success to be. Whether it is how my life, my wife’s life, my children’s lives, or even politics and the world, I need to take my eyes off of my own wisdom and turn them to the daily grind of growing closer to you and then letting the chips fall where they may. One problem when I try to pursue my own outcomes is that sometimes my desired outcome is wrong and I am putting energy into something that feeds my own self instead of just worshipping you and living in the present.
Father, thank you. Thank you for what you’ve done for me and my family over the last several years. I’m still concerned for all of our futures, but I no longer fear it. I no longer expect you to do what I want you to do. And I’m no longer disappointed in you. I was for a while, but I’m not anymore. I guess I needed to see a figurative 10-1 season from you to trust the process of grinding to love and know you more and more. Thank you for growing my faith. I know there is still a long way for me to go.
In Jesus’s name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 