"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."
-Isaiah 30:18
The Lord waits to answer our prayers for a reason! It's not something on his to-do list he hasn't gotten around to, but he stands purposefully waiting.
Why is he waiting? He waits to exalt himself. And when he exalts himself, we will see how great he is:
"When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, 'For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.'"
Blessed are all those who wait for him because they will see his glory. Whether God exalts himself through healing Ian or not healing Ian, let this encourage us to keep praying, because God wants to show us himself through Ian!
-Ben
6 comments:
Ben,
I may be way, way older than you, but you are my spiritual hero, big time. I admire you so much, and I really want to be like you. Your confidence in the Lord exalts Him, and gives the people, who read what you write, hope. You're a bright beam of light shooting up to Heaven, praising Jesus, and you point us all to the Light of the world.
kristi
God has been teaching us all so much through this. Thank you for your constant reminder to look to God; His hand is powerfully on your life Ben.
Thanks, Ben.
I'm even OLDER than Kristi...a mere 6 weeks exactly...and I agree with her totally.
It seems that the torch has been passed to you guys at LOLC; you (and your peers) are becoming mature Christians at a young age. You all are clinging to the One who clings to you! Run the race and fight the fight!
Still praying!
Mary Ann K.
(Jesse's mom)
I never had the priviledge of knowing Ian, but I have many friends who know him. I am praying for him every day, as is my entire senior class at Covenant Life. We've devoted much time to praying for him.
May God be glorified in whatever happens!
Ben, Stephen, and David
You guys have been such an amazing example of what faith in Jesus looks like. The Lord's strength is shining through you all. You are running to the Lord asking for mercy saying "Yes Lord, we believe you are able to do this". Thank you for teaching your readers and myself to keep asking and expecting great things from our God.
Matthew 9: 27-30
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." When he entered the house the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened.
tonya
I was praying for Ian in my quiet time yesterday morning and I came across this very same verse. It reminded me of how all of this is about much higher purposes and of how greatly God is going to be exalted through all of this. Yet Him receiving glory does not mean that He does not care for our needs! The verse tells us that He will be gracious to us and again that He will be exalted THAT He may have mercy on us!
It was so cool to pull up the blog later in the day and find that Ben had posted the very same verse.
I was also meditating on portions of Lamentations 3 in my prayers for Ian yesterday.
"This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new EVERY morning; GREAT is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him."
I find myself checking this blog for an update every morning and it seems that every morning I do find a new evidence of God's compassion!
Ian is off the ventilator.
Ian's fever is gone.
Ian is responding to familiar voices.
Ian is able to respond to some commands.
Ian's ligament didn't need repair when they went in for surgery.
The surgery on Ian's arm went extraordinarily well.
I was excited to read several days ago that the neurotrama people have done all they can. That makes us totally and completely dependent upon God to work and He will be the one to receive all the glory!
Many of us here in Lancaster are continuing to ask, seek and knock with you.
With much prayer,
Ann Gatchell
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