I told the people of Good Shepherd yesterday about one of my first prayers ever.
Now: I had prayed the Lord’s Prayer many times as a young boy. I also had the occasional “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food” before meals.
But this one was heartfelt and urgent. I was 15 and had not yet decided to give Jesus my life. But I needed one of his answers.
The prayer went like this: “Lord, if I wake up in the morning and all my pimples are gone, then I’ll believe in you.”
I woke up the next morning, looked in the mirror, and the same old stuff was there.
God had failed the test.
Or perhaps I didn’t understand a bigger truth: I wanted the blessing without the commitment. The favor without the surrender.
From Haggai 2:15-19, I get a different order in life. Tomorrow’s blessings follow today’s obedience.
How is your level of submission today? The greater your surrender, the broader is the pathway for God’s blessings in your life.
Pimples or not.