What Does This Button Do?
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Posted by Katie
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What does this button do?
Which one?
The one that says “turbo”.
Don’t know.
What do you mean, you don’t know?
I don’t know…I’ve never tried it.
And so went a conversation I had with a friend who once rode
in my trusty old 1997 Saturn SL1. Sitting inches from my gearshift was a button
that I think was supposed to add a little extra umph to the car’s acceleration.
I didn’t really understand how it worked, as it was just a little button, and
so…I never tried it. Its power remains a mystery today.
I have lived like that with God before…His power sitting
inches from my fingertips…untouched. There was a time when my prayers reflected this too: “God please be with me/them/him/her.” It was
as if I was afraid to ask God to do something measurable for fear
that an unanswered prayer would challenge how God measured up. I wasn't brave
enough to live with the mysteries of unanswered questions. I was a bit
startled, therefore, in 2001 when someone challenged me: Enough already! God
is already WITH you. Pray boldly!
This challenge was nagging at me about the same time my
work pal, Fran, came to me with an urgent prayer request. A gal she knew from college
was a missionary in the Philippines. Gracia and her husband, Martin had been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf. I knew Fran needed more from me than a simple,
“please be with them, Lord”. I knew God was waiting for me to hit “turbo”.
So we prayed. Every time we got news, we prayed. We prayed
during breaks and at lunchtime. I began praying for Gracia and Martin all the
time. If I was hungry, I prayed that they had something to eat. If I was cold,
I prayed that they were warm. If I was unable to sleep, I prayed that they were
sleeping soundly. If I was singing in church, I prayed that somehow they would
remember hymns to keep each other encouraged. If I read a particularly amazing
scripture, I prayed that God would miraculously bring it to their minds. We
even had a song. Every time it came on the radio, I prayed for them.
And I do say “we”, because when you pray for someone so
intensely for over a year, you begin to care for them as if they are yours.
They were so much “mine” that I had my small group praying for them as if
Gracia and Martin were my close friends. In fact, it was a member of my small
group who called me early one June morning in 2002 to tell me to turn on my
T.V. Gracia had been rescued and we lost Martin. I remember saying that aloud
to no one in particular, “We lost Martin”.
I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t remember a time when I had
seen God so powerful. When Fran first asked me to pray, I thought… This
is not going to end well. People just don’t get rescued from things like
this…best to just “pray it safe” so no one is disappointed. It was a
button I had never pressed.
There are still mysteries left unexplained. I don’t
understand why we had to lose Martin or why the Burnham’s captivity lasted so
long. But, I also don’t fully comprehend why I came to care for
these dear folks so completely…when I had never met them before in my life.
.
There are mysteries left unexplained. And, even though I
don’t fully understand how it works, I now have the courage to testify that
God’s power is a thrill to behold.
Life is too short to “pray it safe”, my friends.
God is waiting for you to pray boldly. When you do, hang
on to your seat…
