The Chicken or The Egg?
Years ago, I conducted an action research project in my 6th grade ELA class with this question as my focus: Do high-achieving students become readers or do readers become high-achieving students?
I think it’s like the chicken or the egg? My readers were high achieving and my high achievers were readers. It was hard to say which group was influenced more through the project; however, I did have a record number of non-identified high-achieving students score pass-plus that year on our standardized test. I will always be that educator who proclaims the more you read the better you read, the better you write, the more vocabulary you will know, and the better you will score on tests!!
So, when I think about this question, it’s more or less the same mindset. Am I more grateful for God’s goodness because He’s been so faithful or is He faithful because I am so grateful for his goodness?
I think we have all questioned where God is at times. Why isn’t he answering my prayer? Why does He seem so far away? Why is He not giving me what I am asking for? Has He forgotten me? Am I not “good enough” to receive his goodness? Maybe you are there right now.
Is it easier to proclaim his love for us when we are experiencing His blessings? Do we doubt His love for us when things are not going our way?
Sometimes we think of God as if He’s the Great and Mighty Oz. We want to present our request through prayer, click our heels, and wait for him to give us what we asked. And, we wait, and we wait. We stand before that curtain and scream, “WHY?” in pain, in sorrow, in grief. I know…. because I’ve been there. We all have.
I want to reason. C’mon God! It’s a good, healthy request. It’s selfless. I know it will benefit others and it will glorify You. (Like he doesn’t know this.)
I want to make a deal with Him. If You do this God, I will do this in return. I won’t let You down.
I want to play “poor, pitiful me.” You must not love me. You are giving everyone else I know what they want, and I am over here suffering. Why? What did I do to make you want to punish or leave me?
When this happens, the thing that we forget is that He is GOD, and we are not. He is not on our level. As my girls would say, He does not match our energy. When we think of Him as a human, judging our requests, we try to understand and we cannot.
Then, what’s the point of praying?
I am not a theologian. I am not a Biblical expert. But, I can tell you what I believe and what gives me peace.
I pray because I know God is with me. When I ask, I know that He holds my hand, walks with me, or even carries me when I need peace and comfort. I know that His strength keeps me going some days. I pray for His will, and I pray that my heart reflects His will, not my will, not the world’s, and definitely not Satan’s. I pray that I can be filled with the fruit of the Spirit; that His goodness, His kindness, His patience, and His love echoes throughout my words and actions.
Now, do I still ask for blessings? Of course, I do. But here’s the thing I try to remember. The world is broken. We are not pawns on a chessboard being moved around by God. He gives us free will. We make decisions every day that either a part of His will or that aren’t. Satan has a crafty way of getting in our minds and directing our choices. There is so much we don’t see, we don’t know, we wouldn’t understand. That’s where our faith has to take over.
I have asked for healing, and it did not happen. I have asked for reconciliation, and did not receive it. I have asked for a stressful situation to go my way, and it did not. I have prayed that friends can experience His goodness, and I did not see it. My brain cries, “IT’S NOT FAIR!! WHY!!”
But my heart whispers, “God, You have always been faithful. I know You love me, even if it hurts right now. Even if I don’t understand. I trust You. I know You cover me with Your grace and Your mercy.” So that’s what I try to focus on, the soft whispers of my heart instead of the loud cries of my mind. It’s not easy, especially because it’s human nature to look to the things of this world for understanding. For me, I can only find peace in His word and His presence.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Recently, my oldest daughter and I were having a discussion about what would happen if it rained on her wedding day as the forecast promised storms that day. (The ceremony was to take place outside.) I told her that God has never let me down yet. I didn’t mean that He grants every request; I meant that even if it did rain, it would still work out and be a blessing. Maybe just not the way we had planned. I didn’t explain all that though on that day. In case you don’t know this, trying to reason with a bride days before her wedding is not necessarily a good idea! But God knew. And, on the absolutely gorgeous day of her wedding with no rain in sight, I walked the property of the venue in awe and prayed with gratitude for His faithfulness and His goodness.
I have stories where my requests have not gone my way, and I’ve seen His goodness just as much. It’s just not always as easy to see. But I know it’s always there. He is always there. His faithfulness. His goodness. His mercy. His grace. His everlasting love.
And, I am so grateful.
So, I write about His faithfulness, in hopes that those reading this can lean on His understanding. So those reading this can trust Him with their worries, their sufferings, their anxieties. Trust Him with the bad and you will see him in the good. See him in the good and you will experience Him even in the bad. The chicken or the egg?
“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NIV)