“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 NLT
(Special Note:I’ve had several people ask for more previews from my upcoming book release More of Jesus, so I don’t mind sharing a few teasers. With the launch happening in a few weeks, I wanted to share another excerpt and little more from the perspective of why this book was written, enjoy!)
Rivulets of tears streamed down her face and collected like drops of rain seeking release. Let’s call her Becky. She had the sweetest of faces and the heaviest of hearts… everything in me just broke watching what she was going through. She wanted answers that I could not give, and her tears testified to this effect. More than answers, as her mentor and friend, I felt the nudge to ask her the deeper question, the question behind the question she didn’t even realize she wasn’t formulating.
I took a breath and posed, “Becky, what do you feel like Jesus is saying in this situation?”
If I thought the rain was falling before, it was only the precursor to this breaking storm. Kudos to Becky for her honesty as she sobbed, “Joy, I don’t know, because I haven’t asked him.” And therein lies the answer that many of us eventually own. We don’t know the answer to the hard questions we’re asking in life because we leave Jesus out of the equation. Whether it is a major life decision, an application process, a simple left, right, or stop… we get ourselves in a bunch because walking through life makes us all a little bit wonky. We don’t know if we should or shouldn’t take the job offer. We aren’t sure why we feel the nudge to say yes to an unexpected invitation. Most often, we end up feeling all kinds of anxiety because we need divine intervention in a situation we’re trying too hard to handle on our own.
So, the question is: Why aren’t we asking? Why aren’t we taking everything to Jesus to get real-life answers?!? The answers stare us down pretty cold:
We’re afraid we can’t hear from Him.
Don’t know if we’ve heard.
We haven’t bothered asking.
Or, quite possibly, the crux of the issue is that we haven’t cultivated enough of a relationship with Jesus to listen to how he would respond. Ouch.
I think there’s some of Becky in all of us.
If you’ve ever struggled with matters of faith and struggled equally to get answers… the answer might not be in asking a better question but in deepening your relationship with Jesus. You’re called to knowing and experiencing more of Jesus so that you not only hear his response but are confident in your relationship with him, regardless of how life turns out. That’s the call for each and every one of us. It’s not about figuring everything in life out, walking in perfection, or getting all the answers correct on some celestial pop quiz. The meaning of life, and what gives our life meaning, is a real, living, and vibrant relationship with Jesus himself.
Get ready for More Of Jesus! Book launches November 1st!
I’m so excited to for you to read it soon friends!
Much love,
Joy