As a child growing up in the sixties, I kept my mother company as she took care of the laundry. We’d pass the time by watching an old portable black-and-white TV my mother set up on the kitchen counter.
These were the days of I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched and The Jetsons, and I marvelled at how easily tasks could be done on those shows. Cross your arms, blink, and your kitchen was spotless. A nose wiggle cleaned a whole house. Each family member ate whatever they wanted just by pressing buttons. These were the days before microwaves, but I digress.
Those fantasies were a far cry from the reality we lived as a lower middle-class family. My mother used a wringer washer, and she dried our laundry on a clothesline in our backyard. Articles that needed ironing went in one pile and items that didn’t need ironing in another.
Back then, the ironing pile greatly surpassed the non-ironing pile. I helped by sorting through the non-ironing pile, separating socks that needed darning, shirts that needed buttons, and jeans that needed patches.
In the meantime, my mother would set up the ironing board, stir whatever was simmering on the stove, and check on my younger siblings as they played. My mother might have fantasised about having her work done for her by a single bat of an eyelash, but she knew it’d never be that simple.
Let me say up front that I believe God still performs miracles today. I’ve prayed for many people over the years, and I’ve seen beautiful answers to prayer. I’ve also witnessed instantaneous, complete, and miraculous healings, both physical and emotional.
At the same time, not every prayer request is met by an immediate miracle.
I’m not going to try to unpack every question around answered prayer, delayed answers or physical healing in this blog. I do want to pass along one observation, though.
There are some circumstances where a process is needed more than a prompt resolution.
I’ve heard that kind of agony and desperation in prayers like these:
Take this pain away, God. I can’t keep carrying it like this.
I lost my job again. It’s the third one this year. What are we going to do?
I don’t want to drink anymore, God.
Lord, I’m trapped in something I keep promising I’ll quit. Please help me be honest and free.
I’m going to lose my house. I’m in debt up to my ears, and I don’t know what to do next.
My daughter married someone who’s hurting her, and it feels painfully familiar.
Please bring my family back. I want to become the spouse I should’ve been.
Most of us understand the longing for a quick fix. We want the express lane visitation from God. And yes, God freely offers deliverance from deep-rooted sin structures and harmful life patterns.
Sometimes, though, healing comes through a process that takes time, courage and commitment.
We may go forward for prayer, have a good cry, and genuinely feel God’s presence. We welcome His comfort with open arms. Who doesn’t need the steadying kindness of our Heavenly Father?
But if we walk away as soon as the pain eases, we may miss the deeper work God’s inviting us into.
Sometimes we don’t press through to lasting change because we’re afraid, tired, or not yet ready to face what God’s asking of us. We may struggle to trust His process. We may be impatient with ourselves, with others or even with God.
And sometimes, if we’re honest, we’re not yet ready to take responsibility for the damage caused by our choices.
The Lord doesn’t leave us there. He invites us to work with Him, often by placing tools, life skills, support and resources within reach so we don’t keep landing in the same painful place.
That help can come in many forms. He may prompt us to seek counsel through a local church, a trusted professional or a wise person in the community. He may lead us toward sound financial teaching, recovery support, mentoring or an honest conversation with someone we trust.
Sometimes the answer to our prayer includes humbling ourselves enough to accept the help He’s already placed within reach.
The Holy Spirit’s conviction might prompt us to come clean with a trusted pastor, counsellor or family member about what’s been hidden. As we admit we’re powerless on our own, God meets us with His power and leads us toward freedom.
God longs to set us free, but freedom often grows as we keep walking with Him. As we stay trusting and teachable, one next obedient step at a time, we begin to see real change.
It’d be a hollow victory to run half a marathon, hop on the subway to the station closest to the finish line, and then try to blend in with the runners who endured the whole way.
The point isn’t that suffering somehow earns us the victory. It doesn’t. But we can’t receive everything God wants to form in us through a journey if we refuse to walk that journey with Him.
The people who actually finish are the ones with sweat on their brows, worn-out shoes, and the kind of tired smile that says the journey mattered.
“Christianity must be practical. Two children were afraid they would be late for school. One said, ‘Let’s kneel down and pray to God that He may help us not to be late.’ The other child offered a more practical solution: ‘No, let’s run and pray at the same time.’” ~ Anonymous
If you read today’s blog and immediately thought of someone else who’d really benefit from it, I get it. I’ve done that too.
But maybe it’s worth asking whether there’s something here for us as well.
Is there something I’m avoiding? Am I looking for a loophole, a shortcut, or the easiest way around something God may actually want to walk through with me?
I say that with no finger-pointing at all. As I’ve been writing this, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit’s conviction to spend time with Him this week on these very issues and to let the Divine Counsellor help me work through a few things too.
All Bible verses attributed to the ESV version unless otherwise indicated.
Until next time,
2019 Katherine Walden
Sign up to receive a weekly emailed devotional by Katherine by using the following form.
