In Spite of The Prayers

It was another sad day yesterday in the Redding house. Elias and my niece, Drea, both found little ducklings in the last few days. But we couldn't get them to eat much aside from letting them swim in the pond, which tired them out. In the morning we woke up to find that one little duckling had died in the night, which brought many tears. And as the morning went on, it was obvious that the other little duckling was also doing poorly. The sorrowful realization that he might possibly die brought with it more tears and actual sobs from a couple of my younger children. Knowing my tender hearted little ones this is not unusual. But something I did not expect followed. As they were holding him and crying they began pouring their little hearts out to Jesus asking Him to heal the duck. Their prayers were so sweet and tender and they came from their hearts unprompted by Paul or I. It blessed my heart to see their faith. They didn't come to me to fix it. Instead they went straight to the One who miraculously healed Mr. Mario, their cat, earlier this year. In spite of their prayers for healing and life for Wally, he died in the afternoon quietly in his little box. I found myself trying to put into words a child could understand, the lesson that I've learned all too well. How do you explain to a little child that sometimes God's answer to our prayer is "no"? Sometimes, even though we ask in Jesus name, God says "no" for reasons that align with His wisdom and plan- not ours. Sometimes what we desire falls outside of God's will. And when that happens, our prayer, though it matters to Him, is answered with a "no", and yet still He asks us to surrender to a child-like trust in Him, and believe that His will is ultimately our good. This is a difficult truth to understand. But when you've lived through loss, the lesson is forced upon you and comprehension becomes a deep matter of faith and life. But God gives wisdom to those who ask. And He is never without mercy. Like my little ones who prayed in faith, sometimes things don't turn out as we've asked. But know this, God is still in control. His love never fails and He holds each and every one of us in the palm of His hand. Even when His will includes sorrow or pain.

Let God be God

Though God is perfect and the very author of the word, throughout history, men dare to accuse Him of evil. As though God has issues with righteousness and trouble understanding men, rather than it being the other way around.

Job 34:12 "Surely, God will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice."

If you find yourself assigning God to His "place" as though you can relegate Him or dictate to Him His roll in your life, you may want to consider that it is God who tells the stars to shine, the worlds to spin, the winds to blow and your heart to beat. He makes no mistakes. If you are frustrated thinking He is unjust (as Job once was) and that you are wrongly afflicted, read Job 33 where Elihu corrects Job.

God speaks to us in dreams and visions, in afflictions in sorrows and in pain, even sending ministering angels to remind us of what is right (vs 23) and of our Ransom (Jesus, vs.24)...but no one notices (vs. 13-32).

He does this so that;

17-18 "That He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit and his life from passing over into Sheol."

29-30 "Behold God does all these often times with men, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life."

And the proper response of man to all these things is laid out in verses 25-28 (life, vigor, prayer of repentance, acceptance by God, joy, righteousness restored, songs and testimony of his redemption, humility and ultimately, Hope.)

Rather than shaking our fists against God because He doesn't operate according to our own wills, it would be wise to consider Who it is that orders the world and all that is in it...Who it is that defines the way things should be.

Thank You

We would like to say thank you to so many people who have attended our concerts, purchased our music, and shared your stories with us.  It is so encouraging to hear how God works in other people's lives through the music He gives us.

We feel so blessed to be able to use the gift of music for God's glory, and to do so as a family!  Singing with our children is such a fun experience and it is so rewarding to see them grow and improve and make such great music themselves.

We have just a couple more events to perform this summer, and then we will get ready for the Christmas season concerts.  If your group is looking for special performances during the Christmas season, please email us for booking information.

Thanks again for a great summer!
Paul