Show up, Lord

I received this email the other day. I have prayed for this many times, although sometimes the outcome is far different from what I was expecting! I'm trying to work overtime right now to catch up on some bills from when my mom was in the hospital and also to pay back Ken's parents for the help they gave us during the crisis. My shift was cancelled today at the hospital. When you are desperately trying to work and then you can't get any work all you can do is pray for God to show up and take care of it. I'm sure there is a reason I am at home today. If nothing else I will go to church instead which is nice since I have missed a lot of it lately. Last week I worked until 6pm and was sent home early so I got to go to church. Maybe that is my message, He wants me in church right now, and will show me how to take care of the finances without skipping church to do it. Please God, show up today and show me the plans you have for me.


Show Up, Lord


Ah Lord GOD! . . . Nothing is too difficult for You.
Jeremiah 32:17

How many times have you prayed for God to "show up"--that He would reveal His purpose and power and presence in an unmistakable way?

Some people might say, "Aw, that's just the way Christians talk. No one really expects God to 'show up' or do anything." Well, it's not just talk if God can actually do it. Look at the context for today's verse:

Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds
(Jeremiah 32:17-19).

This passage tells me that God can break through the most desperate situations in your lives and transform them into trophies of His grace. He can intervene in the lives of your friends and family members--even those who are running hard from Him right now--and turn their whole world around.

Sometimes we grow weary of praying for God to act. When an answer to prayer doesn't immediately come, we can become impatient. We're tempted to quit after a while. But never misjudge God's silence as inactivity. He is working and waiting for the right time to show up, to leave no doubt that He's the One who makes all the difference (see also Isaiah 64:4).

Persevere in prayer.