The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Invitation to Ask

 



I really want this to be a shorter reflection this morning, but even as I get started, I realize how many layers or nuances or tracks this whole topic could take us.

But for now I'll just say that our conversation after supper last night centered around some pretty big things we're trusting God for right now, both in terms of the next steps of the Property Development Project for NFF, and some more personal family decisions. Big things, not necessarily unusual, given stages of life and normal life transitions, but weighty, and exciting, and scary, and all of it.

And as we were talking together, praying together, these words of Jesus came to mind, so we read them out loud in both Thai and English.

"Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
....how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!"
Matthew 7:7-11

Yes, I know that pulled up and held dangling and untethered to the context of the Sermon on the Mount, these words can and have been used to claim some kind of near-magical powers to manipulate God into doing what you want Him to do. That's not where we went with it.

Instead, we marveled at a God who, unlike others, does not demand from us, but instead invites us to ask. Like you would a loving Father who wants the best for His children.

And we realized again the humility and vulnerability of trust, of asking, of waiting confidently, content in the now while watching for what God will do in the future.

A little flashback to the morning sky this summer seemed an appropriate visual for all this somehow.

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