Psalm 118:24 – This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
I was reading my journal from a couple months ago. It said, “I didn’t sleep much last night because Kiersten has an interview at Bellarmine University for physical therapy school. She wants this really bad. I pray that she can get it. She didn’t get accepted in Chicago last year after her interview at the college there and I am nervous for her. I will keep praying.”
I took I Thessalonians 5:17 – pray without ceasing – to a new level. I had read my Jesus Calling devotional a few days earlier and it talked about bringing my petitions and requests to God and then after that, don’t keep bringing them back but rather thank Him for the answer to the request. Another devotional reading said to say out loud “Jesus, I trust you”. And you know….I do trust Him. His plan is better than my plan.
It’s like the kids asking for a gift for Christmas and you already have a plan. But they have to wait until Christmas – until the proper day and time and you don’t want to give the surprise or the plan away because your plan is much better than just giving them the gift they want right now.
When our daughter was in the 8th grade, she wanted a cell phone for Christmas. We had received a free one in a “buy-one-get-one-free” promotion. She kept asking for a phone and we didn’t give it to her or tell her we had one. As a matter of a fact, I put it in the bottom of her stocking. Our girls don’t open their stockings until after they open their presents on Christmas morning. She was disappointed that she didn’t get her phone on Christmas morning while opening her gifts. Then she went to her Christmas stocking which is normally filled with candy, gum and fingernail polish and there in the bottom of the stocking – at the least expected place – was her cell phone.
That’s how God works for us. We can keep asking and keep asking but he will give us His plan at just the right moment and it will be so special that we will remember it forever. I had forgotten about the cell phone story but my daughter, who is now 20 years old, reminded us that the Christmas she received the cell phone at the most unexpected moment was one of the most memorable Christmases. That’s what God does to us. He makes it His timing and His special day.
Remember – Kiersten didn’t get into PT school last year after her interview in Chicago. It was very expensive and 5 hours away. She didn’t know anyone there. But if it was God’s will, we would accept her getting in there. She didn’t get accepted. But we kept praying and she kept trying and at just the right moment – after a long time of praying and waiting – God chose to give her the surprise in the bottom of her stocking……she got into Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky – only 1 and a half hours from home in a beautiful campus in the Bible belt of America. Who knows what other surprises He has for her!
Don’t give up. Pray hard. Pray through. This is the day the Lord has made. It may just be the day you find the cell phone in the bottom of the Christmas stocking!
