The difference is the heart making the plea.
The extent to which we are anxious is the extent of our mistrust of God. We like to know the outcomes and the timing of things. We like to be in control. We believe this gives us security. But it is a false security. The only real security is found in simply trusting God. In this way, we can still have peace regardless of what we experience. If we believe that He is in control, that He loves us, that He is good, that He is working all things for good, and desires and works our highest good, we will simply rest in this reality. The truth is, we find that we don't actually trust God in all these ways. Our faith is weak and untested. So when a difficult time comes, we aren't actually in the habit of trusting God. We do not live as though all that is true of God is actually true of God for us.
Trials have a way of removing all the pretense and reveal who we really are. As we go through them, we actually find out who God really is in the process. And our faith grows as we find God to be even more spectacular than we ever imagined.
Waiting is the process by which God whittles away our fears. What seemed so dire in the moment, no longer appears so imminent. Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead before He went to see Martha and Mary. To them it first appeared He was too late, when, in fact, He was right on time. And so it is with us.
So relax. Make your requests known unto God. He already knows them; He is merely wanting you to draw near and know Him.
The extent to which we are anxious is the extent of our mistrust of God. We like to know the outcomes and the timing of things. We like to be in control. We believe this gives us security. But it is a false security. The only real security is found in simply trusting God. In this way, we can still have peace regardless of what we experience. If we believe that He is in control, that He loves us, that He is good, that He is working all things for good, and desires and works our highest good, we will simply rest in this reality. The truth is, we find that we don't actually trust God in all these ways. Our faith is weak and untested. So when a difficult time comes, we aren't actually in the habit of trusting God. We do not live as though all that is true of God is actually true of God for us.
Trials have a way of removing all the pretense and reveal who we really are. As we go through them, we actually find out who God really is in the process. And our faith grows as we find God to be even more spectacular than we ever imagined.
Waiting is the process by which God whittles away our fears. What seemed so dire in the moment, no longer appears so imminent. Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead before He went to see Martha and Mary. To them it first appeared He was too late, when, in fact, He was right on time. And so it is with us.
So relax. Make your requests known unto God. He already knows them; He is merely wanting you to draw near and know Him.
That's why our current standard of living is a problem. Almost everybody has reached the point where we are getting used to relying on our own resources to solve problems.
Don't get me wrong. I kind of like being able to solve my own problems. But it doesn't do much for my faith...
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