Hearing miraculous stories from fellow Christians always invigorates my own faith. One man told us about his stove burner that had not worked in over twenty years. Feeling led by the fire of the Holy Spirit, he prayed over the burner and commanded it to work in the name of Jesus. He turned the knob, and immediately the burner heated up perfectly.
That very day, I decided I would "exercise" my own faith on a defective clothing iron that my husband was about to toss in the trash. Instead of heating up like a good iron should, it stubbornly flashed an error message every time it was plugged in. Feeling expectant, I prayed over the iron, commanding it to function properly. I asked my husband Adam to pray over it as well. We plugged it in and the error message did not come on. I was so excited, I began jumping up and down. I noticed Adam did not join in on my fit of celebration, but instead stared shrewdly at the iron.
The error message began blinking like clockwork. Adam calmly informed me that it takes about five seconds for the error message to come on and he was just waiting for that to happen. In snap judgment, I told him that his doubt must have inhibited the answer. Discerning how deeply important this was to me, Adam prayed with me again in heartfelt unity. We plugged it in again, only to be greeted by the taunting error message.
With no one left to blame, I went upstairs carrying the weight of my disappointment. After enumerating my frustrations to God, I let out a sigh and listened for His response. He showed me that I was not putting my faith in Christ alone, but rather on a particular outcome. I was seeking His hand, not His heart. He quickened in my spirit Isaiah 43:18-19, and told me to thank Him not only for the new iron that He would provide, but also for smoothing out the wrinkles in my faith....oh and to apologize to Adam.
Of course, God is more than able to perform the miraculous at any moment. However, more than that, His ultimate desire was for me to grow closer to Him. It turns out, the "error message" was a sign to me that I was out of order. I had to toss out my old defective version of faith, and allow God to let a new faith spring forth in me.
Lord, forgive me when I place my faith in the results that I desire, instead of You alone. Your ways are higher than my ways. Your thoughts are not my thoughts. Give me a faith that aligns with Your perfect will and shape it to form Your heart in me. I never want to confine You, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank you for the new spiritual blessings springing forth in my life. Today, faith is keeping my eyes on You. Amen.
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