Inclusive

“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”                                                                                   Matt. 7.8

What impacts me greatly with this verse is its inclusive nature. No one is exempt. God will respond to anyone who reaches out to Him.

What then of the one who says, “I asked God but He didn’t give to me” or, “I cried out to God and He ignored me, He didn’t respond”? In such cases, I believe the key lies in our interpretation of the answer. God may well answer in all cases but, if the answer is not what we want or expect, we may think there has been no answer at all. We can easily allow disappointment to take hold of us.

I recall my own experiences when God has not answered as I would have hoped. Indeed, there have been times when I’ve thought He either hasn’t heard me, or He’s choosing not to listen. Of course, this is not so. In time, I’ve often come to see God’s response, and to realise that His answer (or solution) was  not what I was seeking or hoping for at the time, yet it has turned out to be most beneficial to me.

I’m realising that when I ask, seek or knock, in addition to the initial action, I need to ask God to lead me into His response and to give me a perspective to see what He wants for me, rather than what I, perhaps selfishly, seek for myself.

Can I keep myself alert to His ways rather than focus too closely on what I want? I hope so!

Lord God,

You have told me that Your ways are not my ways. Indeed, Your ways are higher than my ways, and Your thoughts higher than my thoughts.

Help me to look to the higher way, Your way for me. Enable me, with the help of Your Holy Spirit, to surrender myself to Your higher thoughts.           Amen.

My book “God Talk” is available through major Internet booksellers.

A taste of the book's content can be seen in the You Tube clip (Search: Peter Francis - "God Talk").