Prayer, Patience and Purpose

My day started out nicely, but quickly turned. It seemed to be one hardship after another and all I wanted was to get back home. I finally made it home safely and sat down to read to help calm my stressful mind. As soon as I opened up my book and read the chapter title, I was reminded of my morning Bible time and it all fell into place.

I was reading about the story of Joseph this morning during my Bible time. I even wrote a journal entry about it.

[Y]e thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good. ~ Genesis 50:20

Often times when something bad happens to us we go to God and ask, "Why?" It may not be for us to know or understand the why behind it. It was many years after Joseph was sold into slavery before he knew the why behind he was sold into slavery by his brothers.

We need to rest in the knowledge that God will use it for His good and His glory. I know it isn't always easy to do, but we need to try anyway. God will bless our patience and our diligence if we just wait on Him.

Balancing It All

So I finally make it home almost two hours after I had originally planned and sat down to read. I have been reading Balancing it All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose by Candace Bure. I only had one more chapter to read and when I opened to it and read the title, When Life's Got You Stressed, I realized it was perfect timing for me to be reading this chapter today.

Of course, she reminded me that I should have stopped and prayed today when I was in the midst of the troubles. I should have stopped my worrying and fretting and just laid it at Christ's feet.

I always try to start my day in prayer and if I don't, I have found that my day doesn't go well. I also usually find myself praying throughout the day about a number of things. Why, then, did I not turn to God in prayer today? I can't answer the why, but it is something I will think of often and hopefully remind me to do so the next time troubles enter.

Candace writes in this chapter, "A day without prayer is a day wasted of an opportunity to see God's hand in my life." How true that is! While I did realize and thank God that no one was hurt in today's proceedings, and I was thankful for the one person who stopped to help, and I was thankful my husband kept his cool and didn't yell, I didn't stop to ask God to help me with my own feelings and emotions. I could have seen His hand move in a mighty way and I missed out on that blessing.

I wish I would have remembered my morning reading when the troubles first began. I wish I would have been more like Joseph and been patient and waited for God to show me how He was working in my life. Of course, now that this has occurred and came home to be reminded once again, I have a feeling that it will stick with me better. Maybe this all happened so I could see how God was taking care of me even when I forgot to go to Him. Maybe this all happened so that the next time something happens, I will go to Him and patiently await to see His purpose in my life.