Meditation

Philippians 4:6 (ESV): "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

In her devotional book, "Anywhere He Leads Me," Corrie ten Boom told the following story:

"At a meeting I had spoken about prayer. The evening was warm, and before

went to bed, we sat outside and talked.

A young immigrant asked, 'Can you really trouble God with the petty things of your life? I dare to speak with God about my soul, but I carry the sorrows of every day alone.'

I answered, 'Have you ever thought what God's love for us means? Love demands love, and don't you think that we can make God's father-heart happy by showing Him our love in telling Him of our cares?

Earthly parents are happy when their children expect much from them.

Psalms 147:11 'The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.'

Don't forget that God sees our sorrows through our eyes. Imagine a little girl who comes crying to her mother because her doll is broken. Her mother doesn't say, 'Come along, don't be silly; that doll isn't worth a penny. What nonsense to cry about it.' No, she understands perfectly that the doll is the little one's sweetheart, and she tries to comfort her and says, 'Let us look and see if we can mend the doll.' Because she loves, she sees the catastrophe through the eyes of the child.

God loves us more than an earthly father or mother. And His love makes our problems great in His eyes and small in our eyes.

I will tell you something that happened when I was a prisoner in a concentration camp with my sister, Betsie. One morning I had a terrible cold and I said to Betsie, 'What can I do? I have no handkerchief.'

'Pray,' she said. I smiled but she prayed, 'Father, Corrie has got a cold, and she has no handkerchief. Will You give her one? In Jesus' name, Amen.'

I could not help but laugh, but as she said 'Amen,' I heard my name called. I went to the window, and there stood my friend who worked in the prison hospital.

'Quickly, quickly! Take this little package,' Inside was a handkerchief.

'Why in the world did you bring me this? Did I ask you for it? Did you know that I have a cold?'

'No, but I was folding handkerchiefs in the hospital, and a voice in my heart said, 'Take one to Corrie ten Boom.'

What a miracle! Can you understand what that handkerchief told me at that moment? It told me that in heaven there is a loving Father who hears when one of His children asks for an impossible little thing—a handkerchief. And that heavenly Father tells one of His other children to take one to Corrie ten Boom.

We cannot understand, but the foolishness of God is so much higher than the wisdom of the wise. God's proportions are so different from ours. Perhaps in His eyes, New Zealand is just as unimportant as a handkerchief. Perhaps in His eyes, a handkerchief is just as important as New Zealand. I don't know. But this I do know: God answers prayers, and God's promises are a greater reality than our problems.'

Lord, I will pray about everything in my life, not just the "big" things. Amen.

Pastor Dale Carlson Anchor of Hope Church

Stanwood