How We Can Pay Attention to God's Faithfulness
“Yesterday, Trent was telling me how sad he was because he missed his friends in Wenatchee. I pointed out that he had a lot of friends at school, but he said that none of them were friends that he “could just call up”. My heart ached for him, so I prayed a little prayer. One hour later, there was a knock on the door, and an invitation for a play date was extended by one of our neighbors. Today, he was cruising around the neighborhood with these two sweet boys while I had a cup of coffee and a chat with their grandma.”
This little snippet of a story is something I wrote when my son was six. He’s almost twelve now. The title was answered prayers- and the story above, was one of many.
I have hundreds of these types of stories, all reminding me of God’s faithfulness. They’re tucked away in random places- blog posts, notebooks, Word files, etc. I’m not great at organizing them. I write them and forget about them- but sometimes they come back to me, when I most need them- like today.
///
Finding this particular story, about an answered prayer, was an answer to prayer in itself, a long forgotten prayer. The story about my son was hidden away on a file on my computer; one I thought I had lost. Two years ago, I deleted the personal blog I had kept for six years, but first I copied the best blog posts into a Word file. These were all the stories I had written about my kids. A computer crash happened shortly thereafter. Most of our files were recovered, but I never could find the blog back-up file. I felt so sick about it that, after I prayed, I just tried to put it out of my mind. I wouldn’t even talk about it. I had a couple of printed books, that contained a few of the stories- but that was all.
The reason it seemed so significant that I would find it today? There seemed to be an avalanche of tech related stresses that I was feeling buried under this morning. I was beyond frustrated. Then I sat down to write, looking at my blog planner to see what I had planned for today. It said, write a story about God’s faithfulness. That’s when I may have huffed a bit.
///
Then I remembered a half written story that I had somewhere in my computer files, that I thought I’d see if I could finish and use. I never did find it. But in the process of looking, I opened a file called “Donkey.” This was the long lost blog back-up file! Why was it called, Donkey? I don’t know, other than Donkey is the name of my son’s lovey.
This unexpected find, of something I treasured, felt like a love note from God. The previous stresses of the morning melted away in comparison to the joy I felt in finding this particular file. The tech issues that I was stressing over are still unresolved, as of now, but I’m no longer worried. I know that God is in control, that he is faithful in all things. I can bring my requests, no matter how small, to him. He reminded me of this today through an story about my son.
///
Here’s why I’m telling you this story: We forget so easily. Write down your prayers. Write about your answered prayers. Write your stories. Even if nobody else ever reads them- they’re valuable. They ‘re a reminder of God’s faithfulness.
God is faithful. Always. Most of the time, it’s subtle. We can miss it if we’re not paying attention. This is why writing is such a gift. It forces us to pay attention.
Here’s an update on the story I shared at the beginning, about my son and the answered prayer for friends…. those two little boys that he met that day- they are his best friends today. Their family....we count among our closest friends. They truly have been a blessing to my family.
I don’t know what might be causing you to feel worried or stressed today, but may I suggest, if that is how you’re feeling, take your worries to God. Pray about them. Then, see if you can remember some stories of God’s faithfulness from your past- and be encouraged.
