“Sometimes That ‘New Thing’ Isn’t What You Expected”

For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NLT

Have you ever prayed for something with such confidence that you just knew how GOD was going to answer you? Maybe not in the exact manner, but in almost a predictable way that there was no possibility for you to miss it?

But what if that answer from GOD is nothing like what you would have envisioned for yourself? Do you put the hand up — as if to stop all traffic — and question GOD about the nature of this so-called response? After all, He’s never delivered ‘like this before,’ and it would be highly unusual for you to experience Him this way. Do you go with it hoping that you’re doing the right thing as you put on the ‘faith shirt’ and just step forward? Or do you begin a new dialogue with Him that starts with, “GOD this isn’t what it’s supposed to look like …”

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:20 The Message

What if your prayer went something like, “GOD, You alone know the details of my situation. You alone are aware that I have tried to __________________________________________. I believe that You want the best for me, Your Daughter. I am trusting in You because You love me with a love far bigger than I can fathom. I am confident that whatever You have already planned for Your purpose is the exact answer to my _________________________________. I pray the Holy Spirit to illuminate my mind and open my eyes to see what You have for me in this season. Thank You, Father. Amen.”

And He responds. Only, you don’t realize it.

Have you been there, Friend? Wrestled with issues of life, stepped into the ring to do battle with your own thoughts of doubt and cried out to GOD for answers? We all have begged the Lord for resolve to something, we all have had those desperate moments of ‘what do I do now?’

I’ll raise my hand here. I’ve lost sleep, worried myself into a vicious cycle, paced the floors, panicked over what felt like impending doom. When I was younger, I would work myself up into a sheer frenzy and chaos would have free rein of my mind. Frantic over what now looks like small pebbles in comparison to the giant boulders of today.

I won’t begin to give you a step-by-step method of how to fix your current situation. I am not qualified to do that. However, I will testify to knowing that growing my relationship with the Lord has increased my visual acuity for the things that He reveals to me. And the more I commune with Him, the clearer His Voice becomes.

You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 ESV

Not too long ago, I prayed for answer to a situation. Waited. No resolve. Moved forward on things that I thought were appropriate and right. Waited some more. Still no answer.

Then one week, (yes, it was a cluster of days) after months of ‘praying and waiting,’ I noticed that the Lord was repeating certain Scripture verses to me. As if to say, “Here, see this … listen to this …” They were almost leaping off the pages — daily devotionals, sermons, books … I had to pause and take a closer look.

¹ Moses was taking care of the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. As he led the sheep to the far side of the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

² The Messenger of the Lord appeared to him there as flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses looked, and although the bush was on fire, it was not burning up. ³ So he thought, “Why isn’t this bush burning up? I must go over there and see this strange sight.” Exodus 3:1-3 GWT

” Exodus 3:1-4 GWT

GOD will get our attention in a personalized way — that unique way where He knows we will stop to look closer. Often times, it will be in the routine and mundane of everyday living.

I did not expect to see what I was now looking at. Praying now shifted to asking for clarification of what I was perceiving as my answer from GOD, rather than praying for a specific answer. Because it didn’t look like what I was anticipating to see.

And quite honestly, I was a little embarrassed because I was realizing how I had forgotten the words of surrender, “not my will, but Your Will be done.” Everything had been centered around what I knew of what He had done in, for and through me in the past. In my quest, I had not been open to how He would answer me today. And while it is certain that the Lord’s faithfulness never changes, His Ways are higher than ours.

“Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 GWT

Who is to say that GOD will not choose a way for you that you’ve not imagined? Is He not GOD that spoke all of creation into existence before anything ever existed? Let that settle for a moment.

Be expectant of what GOD will do in unexpected ways and in the unsuspecting places of life.

When GOD caught my attention through the repetition of those specific Scripture verses over a period of time, I then came to understand that my answer to prayer was in those Scriptures. A deeper dive into them gave me my answer.

Just to be clear, it wasn’t anything like a road map telling me exact details of how my situation was going to unfold or the process that I would live out. That’s where my faith kicked into first gear so that I could move out in confidence that He had answered me all along.

He had to get my attention in order for me to listen.

GOD was waiting on me — when I thought that I was waiting on Him.

Let me speak some truth into this tiny space between us, Friend. The hustling and bustling of everyday life can be a huge distraction to what is right in front of us. For those of us desiring that closer and deeper relationship with our Savior, it’s a constant struggle to keep those diversions and interruptions at bay. We have to come away from the potential detours in order to open to what may be our answer to prayer — staring us in the face.

Then we must respond.

⁴ When the Lord saw that Moses had come over to see it, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

Moses answered, “Here I am! Exodus 3:4 GWT

I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~~

LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary