He Still Surprises Me

One of my boys has been struggling.  A lot actually.  Jerad and I began to earnestly seek God about what we should do and we both felt God telling us to make changes in our parenting.  We listened and we almost quickly began to see positive changes in our son.  We were so thankful that the Lord prompted our hearts with what to do.

Then something else happened.  The son who was struggling also struggles with making friends easily.  He really only had one friend that he does much with.  Earlier this week when he got home from school he told me that friend said, "I hate you just because you're you."  Why are kids so mean?

It broke my heart.  My mommy instinct was to tell him that this friend was not nice and that he should just ignore this person and find another friend.  But again, God intervened.  He spoke to my heart and told me to pray with my son for this friend.  So, we sat on my bed and prayed together.  We prayed that God would let them see that my son was a good friend and that they would stop being mean.  We prayed that my son would have the opportunity to show them Jesus' love even when they were mean.  Then we prayed that God would bring new friends into my son's life.

The next day my son went to school and spent the day praying that God would bring him new friends.  I prayed many many times during the day.  My boys got home from school and I asked my son how the day had gone.  He said it was good, but nothing special.  About 45 minutes later there was a knock at our door. A lady said her son was looking for one of his friends from school and thought he lived here.  Sure enough he was looking for my son.  I talked to the mom for a while and we have play date set up for tomorrow!

I was shocked.  God had answered my prayer so quickly.  I thought for sure it was going to take weeks, if not longer.  Why was I so surprised?  I was asking the God who created the universe to give my son a friend.  Didn't I think he could actually do it?  I absolutely thought he could do it, but to be honest I'm not sure I really believed he would.  At least not so quickly.  Matthew 7:11 tells us that God wants to give us good gifts, we just need to ask.  I know this verse is true.  I shouldn't have been surprised.

I want my faith in God to grow.  There are so many days when I cry out to him "I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).  I know that he can do things I think are impossible.  I want to believe that he will actually do them.  I've seen him heal sickness, provide for the needy, and restore lives.  Why is there still a part of me that doubts that he will?  I feel like Thomas when he had to actually touch the holes in Jesus' hands and side before he believed.  I know it's part of the journey I walk to get to know God more, but I'm ready to have faith like Abraham (Romans 4).  To believe and have no doubts.

I'm so thankful that God cares about all of our concerns, even small ones.  I'm thankful he answers prayers. I'm thankful he gives me opportunities to tell my kids about answered prayers and then their faith gets to grow too.