2 Examples of Believing and Receiving

If you’re on the same wavelength as me, you look at quotes  like the one above and think “Riiiiight. That’s not reality in my world. Are you kidding? Look at the 100-page list of my unfulfilled requests!”

Here’s the flip side: are you looking at the big picture? Would these demands have truly benefited you in the long run? Were they “meant to be”? Was it the right time, place, and person? Are you discounting your actual victories—small or large? Are you impatient, demanding successes before they’re fully formed?

For example, an executive chef might be angry because his parents didn’t allow him to use the stove unsupervised when he was a young child. He feels he could have opened a restaurant at an earlier age if his parents had allowed him more experience. An objective observer will admit the wisdom of not allowing the chef access to a stove as a preschooler.

God Gives us What we Need in Good Time

I do not expect to get rocks from God when I ask for bread. I may expect hard times (rocks) in order to prepare myself for eventual success (bread). However, I will see victory in the end.

In my case, I can also be sure God will give me gluten-free bread, since I’m gluten intolerant. I can crave the probably gluten bread in the image above all I want; but, God isn’t going to give it to me. Why? It will harm me.  God can differentiate our “wants” from our “needs”. He only gives us what will benefit us in the end, although that may be hard to comprehend at first.

A Boy Scout Miracle

Doug told a story about when he was a 12-year old boy scout. He and his troop hiked up a mountain. On the way down, some of the hikers went missing. The scout leaders made the choice to send the remaining boys down the mountain unsupervised while they searched for the missing people.  The young men were instructed to call their parents (from a pay phone in a cabin) to pick them up—and wait. (This was in the days before cell phones.) The troop members did call their families. Within an hour, the parents arrived to pick up their sons. Everyone was astonished to learn the pay phone that had been used  was considered to be out of commission. It hadn’t worked in some time. The boy scouts believed God would rescue them, and He did.

Worst Cooks in America

This Food Network series is endlessly inspiring to me. Pictured above are chef Anne Burrell,  final contestants Kristen Redmond and Genique Freeman, and chef Tyler Florence. Here’s what’s amazing: Kristen comes from a family of chefs; yet, she wasn’t taught how to cook. Genique didn’t appreciate any seafood, and she didn’t know how to use a can opener.

What was the result of these two ladies’ belief and determination? Triumph! They each made a three-course gourmet dinner (including seafood) for some of the top celebrities in the culinary world. They believed; they received.

My Conclusion