“Truly, truly, I say
to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also, and
greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever
you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love
Me, you will keep My commandments”. (John 14:12-15).
Hey Gang: Any
body out there had visions of grandeur when they prayed for things that, after
a season of time learned it was God’s blessing NOT to giving it to us; we would have bombed big time?
Allow me to paint you
a panoramic picture of what I am referring to here. Not too long after we
started the Village, the Reed City Airport was placed on the market and I
thought it would be a great asset for the Village to have, soooo, I prayed
fervently for weeks that God would place it on Mr. Miller’s heart to give it to
the Village.
A month or so later, I drove by the airport and
saw a huge “SOLD” on the real estate advertisement. Disappointed,
yes, even a little on the devastated side, but as the months passed and I found
myself dealing with those issues that every new director of a new program deals
with such as “enough money to keep the ship afloat one more day”, I realized
that God did indeed answer my prayer in the way that He knew was best for
me. Every time I drive by the old Reed City Airport today, I say a very
emphatic, “Thank You Jesus!”
I wish I could tell
you that I learned my lesson and never asked God to give me things I later
learned would have been devastating to my witness for my Lord, but such is not
the case.
Paul prayed fervently
to the Lord that He would remove the thorn in his flesh, but I suspect God knew
that Paul needed a constant reminder that He was Lord and would provide for his
every need. I would draw your attention to the word “need”. The airport would have been
a wonderful gift at that moment, but, as I think back, remembering the many
back-against-the wall experiences that I encountered just to keep the “ship
afloat, there is no doubt having this additional burden piled on top could have
been the death of the miracle that is Eagle Village today.
Oh but you say, does
it not say “Ask and you will receive” and if you ask will He not give us
provision to meet the need of that request. Yes, indeed, but there is
also another provision attached to that request – if it is in the will of Abba Father. I truly wanted the
airport for all the wrong reasons. What I did learn from that early
experience is my dependence was in God and needed to get rid of all my visions
of grandeur and place my full dependence in allowing Him to lead my every
action and thought. Anytime I violated that commitment, there was the ever
present “pit” that I later found myself digging out of.
Soooo, my young
friends, and I suspect everyone who reads this is younger than I, there used to
be a saying “God is my co-pilot. I probably said that a dozen or so times
but have long since learned I will find myself in constant trouble if I allow
that saying to be my guiding light. If He is not the pilot of your life, you will probably continue to do as I did many
years ago - pray that He would give me something that would make my life a
miserable mess.
Blessings,
Gramps
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