Eternal Approach

We are told to “Pray without ceasing.” And to cast “all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:17; I Peter 5: 7)

So, I have discovered, over the years, the great benefit of giving my problems to the Lord. Even the little ones. This is a work in progress. I am learning every day of things I try to handle myself which need to be in His hands rather than my own.

And sometimes, the pain and confusion of life becomes too much to express in words. We groan within ourselves feeling as if we are “hedged in” or unable to break through God’s silence toward us relating to some issue. This can go on for months, years and even decades.

It is More Than Me Talking

Thankfully, Paul tells us that “we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” Try as we may, we just cannot get it right. And he continues saying, “but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The Lord, Himself, does this for us. (Romans 8:26)

His prayers for us are according to the will of God. So that we can rest in faith that God has our back. That He is working all things together for our good. That no detail is lost. No hope is lost.

But there is another aspect of this.  It is our search for wisdom. In the book of James, we are told that we can ask for wisdom and God will give it to us. But we have to ask in faith, “nothing wavering“. (James 1: 5-8)

But, of course, I doubt. Not always, but often.

So I go back to square one. A guy struggling for wisdom. Unable to pray properly.

Help in the Midst of Impossible Problems

But the real discovery I have made here is that I need help with my mind. Not just to be given  information, organization and direction, but the MIND to handle it.

I have come to realize that the problem is that I just don’t know how to feel about stuff a lot of the time. There are a lot of issues we deal with as believers. A lot of burdens we try to handle for people. A lot of people we are trying to take care of. Their needs, their wants, their desires, their expectations. Our wife, our husband, our kids, our parents, our brothers and sisters, the church, the pastor, the boss, the co-workers, the cats, the dogs. Everyone is looking for something from us. Maybe legitimately; maybe not.

And it can get overwhelming. Stinking overwhelming. And impossible.

And there are times when we just don’t have the feelings we need to have. We just don’t know if we are even thinking correctly about something. The emotions aren’t there. The responses are not there people expect us to have. We are like a person in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Not a Box of Wisdom Tools

The good news is that the Lord understands this and has come to help us with this. But it means we have to be honest with Him about it and rest in Him for help.

In I Corinthians, we are told that the Lord, Himself, is our Wisdom. He is not just a “box of wisdom” we are given when we ask for it; He is the solution we need. Our greatest victory in this is that He wants to be this thing for us. He wants us to come in our weakness and let Him straighten things out. But we have to seek Him and not some “thing”.

But this means He will do it in His time and in His way. We may need longsuffering for this as well. And that is another gift He will supply. Because we may not just walk out the door and have everything become “hunky dory”. We have to let Him work. Let Him be active.

Trusting in His Activity

So, when you forget what you are saying in the middle of a speech, while teaching Sunday School class, talking to the boss or wherever, rest in the Lord.

Give yourself a break. The Lord wants to help us and to be all things for us. He will help us to stand when we need to, to be firm when we need to and to be more open when we should. We need to understand that this life is not meant for us to slog through in our own strength. The sooner we realize this the better.

He will give us words that can bring blessing to those around us or give us the seed we need to plant in the heart of a co-worker or friend. He can open our lips and close them. He can give us “utterance” as the scriptures say. We don’t need to stress over prepared words or a “witness” to give to people. But we do need to be dependent on Him to use us in our normal life and circumstances to bring those moments about. To trust that He cares for those around us more than we do; and that He will use us as He wills, in His way.

But we need to wait upon Him; to rest in Him as our Wisdom.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (I Corinthians 1:30)