Unexpected Answers

I must say that as I look back on the past couple of weeks, I truly do think that God has opened my eyes to see Him more and more throughout the everyday rhythms of my day - be it through big or small convictions, and also in the celebrations. I'm finding myself to be naturally attributing more and more things to God (as they should be).

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This past week was my first week of my last semester of school. That absolutely blows my mind that time has flown, and in four months I will have (hopefully) completed my undergrad career. But unlike my first weeks before in the past - this week was quite hard on me, academically, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It was my first semester in a long time that was pure science, as I just finished my minor in Child and Family Studies last semester - and some of my classes just felt incredibly overwhelming.  I remember waking up on stressed on the second day of the week. I remember getting home completely exhausted - I have some long days in my schedule, where i'm out/at school for over twelve hours. For instance, every Tuesday I will have six hours of class back to back, an hour break and then a three hour lab, three of the five days I will be getting home after 10pm; it was just a lot to take in. Perhaps it was also the fact that because I was so close to the finish line, that I was so ready for it all to just be over and done with.

I also felt really off this past week, something just didn't feel right. One day I concluded that maybe it's because I just didn't want to be here - which doesn't really make sense considering that just before the break I felt the opposite, not wanting to leave Guelph. But I do praise God that in these situations, i've been training myself to turn to Him instead of sulking in YouTube or other worldly things (i'm far from perfect though).

But as I look back, I realized that God was answering my prayer. You see, the thing is, just the week before school started, I had begun a new devotional book called "The Songs of Jesus" by Tim Keller - he takes you through the Psalms in 365 days. And a common trend I noticed in the first handful of psalms was that there was a constant lament and cry of desperation to the LORD - crying for deliverance from evil and from enemies, calling out to be sustained through each day, requesting protection and faith. It led me to reflect on why we don't ever hear this kind of cry in our prayers nowadays - and the answer is simply because we live a comfortable, secure and luxurious life; there's almost no need to cry out to God in desperate dependence. I had been praying that God would allow me to be in that situation, one of moment-by-moment dependence - and all this school stress, being emotionally and spiritually off, was the unexpected answer to my prayer.

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As you may or may not know, one of my new year's resolutions was to commit to regularly praying for the persecuted church - I was going to commit each month to a different nation. For January, I've chosen the country of Iran. Ruled by President Hassan Rouhani, there has been unfair treatment towards those of the Christian faith - which actually goes against his word as he said that he wanted all ethnicities and religions to feel justice in 2013 during his presidential campaign. I've been reading up on stories of the persecuted, as they sought refuge in Germany and surrounding nations, as believers were taking several lashes in jain, as well as receiving harassment and attacks by others. I've been praying that the Gospel would continue to spread throughout the nation, that God would work and create change in Rouhani's heart, and that those in prison would be released.

I was just praying for Iran yesterday morning and a few hours later on my Twitter feed, I came across the wonderful news of an Iranian pastor being freed from prison!

The LORD has heard our cries, our mighty God has heard our prayers - He is a good good Father, worthy of all praise. I must say that I continually wrestle with the power of prayer, many times thinking that God doesn't actually hear our prayers, but He does. I definitely wasn't expecting this answer so quick and so immediate - glory to God alone.

I encourage you to join me in praying for Iran, or any of these persecuted countries. These brothers and sisters are a part of God's global family and they need our prayers and support. Don't doubt that our prayers can move the mighty and sovereign hand of God.

How has the LORD answered your prayers lately?