I was asking “Why?” one day. God has answered so many of my prayers lately, but he has also remained silent or even said, “No”concerning some things I’ve been praying about for a long time. I believe that my motives in what I’m asking are pure and that what I’m asking would advance the kingdom, but for some reason, God has yet to come in and save the day.
Satan can really start to mess with a person’s mind in times like this, “You’ve been praying about this for over 20 years. If God loves you so much, why won’t he help you out? God is totally able to do what you are asking. Why won’t he fix the situation?”
A thought about this came to me recently, “Stop fretting about what God isn’t doing, and remember all he has done!” My heart was convicted, and my mind started thinking of all the wonderful things that God has done for me.
I remembered the pile of shells sitting at my table on the porch. Back in June I wrote a post called, “What Do These Shells Mean?” At that time, I was remembering some of the encounters that I had with God and writing them down on seashells I had found at the ocean. I had planned on making a wind chime with those shells, but I didn’t have time to complete the project.
This Sunday, I decided that it was time to do something with those shells. Sorting through them was good. They reminded me of so many wonderful things that God had done. I even had a few things to add because over the past few months, God has continued to bless me and to allow me to experience how good he is.
There are many great spiritual markers written on those shells. Each one of those encounters with God strengthened my faith and deepened my relationship with him. Likewise, each experience with God has made an impact on my life that has helped transform me to be more like Jesus.
I’m sure that I will add even more shells to this wind chime as God continues to pour into my life. There is already one shell on there, though, that will always be the most important shell. It hangs in the center just below the shell that celebrates the day I was born. It reads, “Born Again, July 24, 1977.”
That shell represents the day that I received new life. When my body was immersed under the water, I died to myself; my sin was washed away. When my body came up out of the water, I was raised back to life in Jesus. When I think about the day that I was baptized into Christ, it puts everything back into perspective. Giving my life to Jesus and learning to follow him has been the most rewarding decision that I’ve ever made. After my baptism, the Holy Spirit came to live in me and to empower me to do God’s will. Through Jesus, I will experience eternal life with him in heaven. All the other shells on that wind chime and all of the encounters those shells represent are just icing on the cake. That one encounter helps me to stop fretting over what God isn’t doing and remember all he has done.