All this week our devotionals together will be inspired by the first song that pops up on shuffle play from our BIG Life Morning playlist on Spotify. Yes, we have a morning playlist of upbeat Christian songs and you should totally check it out! Every morning these are the songs I jam out to while I brush my teeth and glue on my fake eyelashes.
So, here’s the plan for the week. I wake up at 4:30, I ask God to be in complete control of the song that plays and make it the perfect one fit for what we need today, then I hit shuffle play. The song that plays will become the day’s episode of the BIG Life Devotional Podcast. I find that exciting! What does God have up his sleeve? It’s like a fortune cookie ya’ll!
This morning I was extra pumped to pop out of bed and see what song played first. I prayed, then I hit that little green shuffle play button with anticipation of greatness.
And I was mildly disappointed. It wasn’t the song I had hoped for. Out of all the songs I’ve added to the BIG Life Mornings playlist, it’s one of my least favorites. So I immediately begin reasoning how and why I should just hit that green button again and get a different song.
Isn’t this what we often do in our prayer life? We faithfully ask for God’s divine guidance, fully trusting he has the power to move mountains and part seas, knowing he hears and he cares, then we receive an answer we don’t like and we begin reworking the plan. We doubt his answer. We reason why our way is better than his way he has shown.
Please tell me I’m not alone in this. I can’t be the only one who is tempted to meddle in God’s answers when I get an answer I don’t love. This week we’re praying over potentially buying a house in Texas. Not that we’ll settle down there, but it’s a great financial investment and it sure would be fun to offer our house on Airbnb to bless other travelers like us. So we prayed for God to lead us to the right house. Then we found the one we loved, the one with the backyard we envisioned family gatherings, the one I sat in front of and mentally just moved right on into. We called the realtor and discovered in the 3 days it had been on the market, 4 contracts were already written.
In all our searching, we can’t find another home we like as much. Nothing comes even close.
Dang it God, did you mess this one up? God, were you off in your timing? God, did you forget about us? God, your plan kinda looks less than my plan.
I’m talking about houses for sale … what about when it’s a life changing medical diagnoses you’ve prayed over and you get the answer you didn’t want? What about when it’s your child you’re praying for and the prayers don’t seem to work? What about when it’s your job and that job ends?
God heard your prayer. He is sovereign over every situation. He is answering, however sometimes his answers don’t align with the predetermined answer we had in mind.
THOUGH WE OFTEN WONDER WHY GOD DOES WHAT HE DOES, WE CAN BE SURE HE DOES IT ON BETTER INFORMATION.
We see the here and now, God sees the end from the beginning. We imagine the immediate impact, God imagines the eternal impact. We’re dealing with odd puzzle pieces that don’t seem to fit while God knows exactly where each piece is destined to come together to make something beautiful, you just haven’t seen the top of the box yet honey.
Can you trust that when you pray, God does answer. Always. He answers. Not always in the way we imagined, but always in the way that is best. Now, can we just get out of the way and let God do his thing? And yes, this starts in the smallest of things … like trusting when I asked God to let the first song played this morning on shuffle play be the song we all needed for our devotional time.
And it was. You see, our devotional this morning has been on trust. Trusting the answers when they’re less than thrilling. Trusting the answers when it’s not what we imagined. Trusting the answers when we could so easily do this thing on our own. But my sister, remember, if you took the time to ask, God took the time to answer … it’s probably a good idea to listen.
The song that played this morning was “Your Name is Power” by Rend Collective. While it wasn’t the pump you up, God is tearing down mountains kinda song I had imagined day 1 would be, isn’t this exactly where we should start? The one name that is true power?
Jesus, the name above all names. The name that changes everything.
When I was having a stroke, nothing coming out of my mouth made sense. Every word was blurred. Every thought was twisted. But every time I said JESUS, it was clear. It was the one word everyone in the room could understand. Jesus. I called on my Jesus.
Why do we forget the most powerful prayer we can ever pray is “Jesus”? When you don’t know what to say, just pray JESUS. When you don’t know what else to do, just call out JESUS. When you don’t know the way, ask JESUS. Why? Because there is POWER in the NAME OF JESUS.
Philippians 2: 9-11 says “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In Luke 10:17 the demons were powerless because of his name. In Acts 3:7, healing occurred in his name. Romans 10:13 tells us we are saved in his name.
So, here’s what I know and share directly with you in absolute confidence today, God got it right. He’s personally answering each and everyone of his children this morning. Your answer is JESUS. His name is power.
What is your darkness? He’s the only answer in that darkness Mama.
What is wrong my sister? He’s the only one who can make it right.
Where is your chaos? He is your hope.
Louder than every lie the enemy has thrown out you, Jesus is here calling you on today. Move on. He has not given you permission to give up. He is calling you on. On to freedom. On to healing. On to restoration. On to glory beyond this struggle. Beyond this fight, beyond this battle, he is calling you on to victory in His name.
In every single situation, Jesus speaks the power to prevail over your life. His power blankets you when you call on his name.
When you get Jesus up in the middle of this chaos, when you call on Jesus to light up the darkness, when you ask Jesus to be by your side in this battle, girl you better believe things change! You may not get the answer you imagined, but remember you’re working on limited information. He knows it all and he works ALL THESE THINGS TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD.
If the door is shut, it was supposed to be shut. If the answer was no, it’s because there’s a better yes ahead. If the timing didn’t work out, it’s because the divine time has not come yet.
Will it always make sense? No. Will it always feel good? No. Will change happen overnight? No.
But you can absolutely be guaranteed if you’ve called on the powerful name of Jesus, he’s here and he’s working on your behalf.
Doesn’t that just take 130 pounds right off your shoulders today? Whew, I feel like I can breathe. It’s a good thing he knows what he’s doing, because I’m just flying by the seat of my pants most of the time! But, isn’t that what faith looks like? Believing in peace when it looks like chaos. Knowing there are answers when you still have questions. Trusting in his power when you feel powerless.
Jesus.
You’ve been praying for the answer in your marriage. You’ve prayed for direction in this decision. You’ve asked for help with your child.
The answer, is the powerful name of Jesus. His name is POWER. Direct power over your personal situation.
