Musings at Altitude

It’s 3:00 in the morning now.  The wind is blowing incredibly hard.  It’s a very visible (and audible) indication of change that is coming.  In fact, it’s supposed to be more than 20 degrees colder today (as a high) than yesterday.  The heater came on just now for the first time in several days.  Change is most certainly on the way.

As I look and listen, change is happening all around me, all the time.

So I shouldn’t be surprised or awed by it.

But I always am.

Sometimes the changes are so obviously good.

And I pray in thanksgiving for the wonderful blessing (unexpected or not) that occurred.

Sometimes the changes bring sadness and tears.

And then I pray for God’s wonderful arms to reach down and wrap us in His love and give us peace.

And I pray for resolution to the challenges that spring forth from the changes that occur.

But am I hoping for resolution, or faithfully believing in resolution?

With hope, prayer leads to waiting and wondering because we stand idly by hoping for God to work a miracle when God may very well want us to have our hope come from faith and our faith to lead to direct and relevant action in support of that very issue we are praying about.

With faith, prayer leads to action because we are so very often the tool that God will use to fix the problem that we pray so fervently about.

Too often, my prayers are delivered in a “launch and leave” mentality, and I turn the issue and the answer over to God and in essence wipe my hands of the resolution.

But prayer grounded in faith is active, not passive.

It’s arrogant of me to turn my worries and problems over to God without in turn making myself available to be used by Him to solve that very problem that I’ve laid at His feet.

On the contrary, it’s humble of me (and very important for me) to “lean not on my own understanding” and to release my worries to the Lord and obediently turn myself over to Him to be used in His way to fulfill His plan…which may indeed result in answers to the very prayers that I raise.

So my goal today is to pray and then act rather to pray and then wait.

I’m anxious to see the prayers that are answered when my arrogance turns to humility and my faith leads to action.