Welcome back to the Promises of God Podcast, Episode number 30 my name is Tracie Rollins. Thank you so much for spending some time with me as we learn and take action on God’s promises in life. This months series is about understanding and receiving God’s love, and we’re working on at the momentum devotional offered by Bible journaling and ministries titled a Father’s Glove. You can learn more about Bible journaling with their free 10-day Bible journaling course located at BibleJournalingMinistries.com. Today we’re talking about God’s provision and our verse is Matthew 7:11, but I’ll read starting in verse 9 and reading out of the world English Bible, it says, or who is there among you Who if asks his son, who, if his son asks him for bread will give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish who will give him a serpent. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
My kids don’t ask for much. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because they experienced the recession or because they don’t see us spending money on the latest and greatest styles. Maybe they have what they need in our content. It kind of makes gift giving a little bit boring around here though. So sometimes when they decide that there is something that they want, like for their birthday or Christmas, I get excited, I get to like start finding the greatest deal on the most awesome thing that they’re asking for. So I get super excited. I want to begin to be able to give them exactly what they’ve asked for. But unfortunately, sometimes what they ask for is not something that as a parent I want to give them, or I think is appropriate for their age. So I have to say no.
Sometimes the Kiddos will ask for things that are, that will directly or indirectly harm them. I think that I do the same with God. I think there are so many prayers that I look back on today that I’m so glad he didn’t answer. God is a provider, and he wants to give good things to his children who asked them good things. And not snakes like inner verse today, but asking tests our faith because God doesn’t always deliver exactly what we want when we want. Sometimes he has something better for us, but we have to have the faith to trust in him. I know there were so many times in my life where I asked for God to provide. A lot of times, especially as I was in my young twenties, uh, we didn’t have a lot of money, so I was always asking to win the lottery.
I know that sounds so weird. Um, but I did, I prayed that I would win the lottery. I prayed that I would get like $1 million and not have to go to work anymore so I could stay at home with my kids. There were so many times that I prayed for money, and it just didn’t happen. And it was kind of funny that I would pray for money because maybe what I should have been doing is praying for help or praying for a solution to what I wanted. I mean, I was praying for money, but really what I wanted to do was spend more time with my children and not have to be at work, you know, 40 50, 60 hours a week or have a two-hour commute to work every day. I probably would’ve been better off had I prayed for something rather than just money.
Maybe it would’ve got me thinking, and I wouldn’t have continued on the path of pursuing a career that was focused on money and I was focused a lot on money in my younger years. That’s for sure. I’m so glad that God doesn’t answer our prayers exactly how we want them all the time because I can also remember, not only was I praying for money a lot, but when my son was born, my youngest son was born 11 weeks premature, and he was born at two pounds, 6.4 ounces and he was in the ICU. That’s the neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital for 11 weeks, and I remember so many times driving in my car just praying to God, please let me take him home. I don’t want to go back there again. It makes me sad because there were times where you would walk by in the neonatal intensive care unit, and you would see a memorial for a child that didn’t get to come home, and as a mother trying to, trying to get her kid home, it was sad.
I mean I would stop and pray for the baby that didn’t make it for the family. That was devastated, but it also hurt my heart, and I would think about what if my child doesn’t get to come home And I would think about that a lot. And at the time, the neonatal intensive care unit that I was at, to get to that section, I had to go through the maternity ward, and so I would go through the maternity ward, see all the happy moms with their babies and then see mine in praying to God. I could take him home, and then I would leave him at night to go pick up my other son, and I have to walk through the maternity ward and see all the moms with their babies going home. And I was happy for them but also very sad about my situation.
And I would pray every day that I get to take my child home. But I will tell you that I’m so glad that God didn’t answer that prayer because if I would’ve taken my young son home, I don’t think he would be here today. My son had multiple issues with ultimately what was keeping him from coming home as he had mal rotated intestines, and I believe that if I would have taken him back that the doctors would not have been able to diagnose him and he may have died because of the lack of nutrition or other issues related to mal rotated intestines. So I was just glad that God didn’t answer that prayer because what happened was it got me to a point in my life where I completely surrender to God. It was on my way to the hospital, and I prayed to God if I couldn’t take my son home that he would provide and that he would take my son and take care of him until I got to see him one day.
That was the hardest prayer of my entire life, but it was one that also matured me in ways that I’m still trying to understand. I don’t know how I had the strength to pray that prayer, but I did. And a few weeks later my son did get to come home, and he is thriving now. So I am just glad that during those times when I was going to the hospital and, I’m glad that he didn’t send them home. I’m glad that I was able to stay in the hospital until at nine weeks they died. They said they would do some exploratory surgery, so they were going to open up and check underneath the hood, right, to see what was wrong with them. And they did in a two-hour exploratory surgery turned into four and they fixed him. And if you like for weeks later, he came home, and he’s been thriving.
Ever since of praise God for that. So I know that it’s hard in life to ask for things and you want God to deliver. Just like with financial issues or babies sick in the hospital, or even if my recent knee surgeries and all the pain that goes with that and asking for the pain to go away and me. I know that God doesn’t always provide things the way we want them to be provided. And you know, he doesn’t even provide it sometimes when we want them to be provided. But I promise you that at least in my experience and what I believe to know about my God is a, He provides things that are better than I just haven’t seen yet. And I can see it. They look in the past and my life. I can see how those difficult times were ways that helps stretch me in ways that helped me grow in multiple areas, including my faith, including my spirituality, including my health, including my work, including everything about my life.
So if God hasn’t provided for you exactly what you have wanted, maybe you’re here today and um, you’ve been praying for something that hasn’t materialized, who ask yourself, maybe it’s not what God has planned for you, or maybe it’s just not yet. Or maybe there’s a different path to take if you’re like, I was when I was younger, praying for money. Maybe you could pray for the solution or something that would enlighten us to the next step and the difficult journey that you’re currently on. I believe that God will give you exactly what he has planned for you. And I believe it is so much better than what we see each and every day of our lives. So this week I would like you to take some time to journal about a time that you prayed for something, and you didn’t get it and that you’re now glad that you didn’t get it.
So look back in your life and see, you know, where you like me. Did you pray for money and are you glad you didn’t get that Because I tell you right now that if he gave me what I asked for at as a young woman, I would not be where I am today would not speaking to you on this podcast. They would not have the opportunity to see all the beautiful people that I get to see every day here in my personal life, face to face, as well as in our online community. There is just so much that God has for us that we don’t understand. And so I pray for you that as you’re asking for provision to understand and to seek why it is you’re asking for that provision. And perhaps maybe you need to be asking for something just a little bit different or maybe it’s time to wait for a bit and see if God will provide it at a later day or maybe there’s an alternative path for you as well.
If you don’t know who I’m talking about when I say God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, I want you to know that that’s okay. I pray that this podcast takes you one step closer to learning more about him. Romans 6:23 says, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus, our Lord, so I hope one day you’ll, you’ll take a chance on him, he’ll turn to him, maybe confess them of your sins that you’ve had in your past and feel the love of Christ just come over you. I hope that you get to experience God’s provision in your life today, tomorrow, and always. Thank you so much for tuning in today, and I’m so excited to wrap up this series with you in the next episode of the Promises of God Podcast. Have a great day. Goodbye.
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