John 14:1-3 (English Standard Version) 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

On some days I discover a message to me from the Father. It often comes in the form of a verse of the day in my bible study application. I am not sure who chooses to use these words and more importantly, I do not know just how this verse of the day touches other people’s lives.

I hear what God has for me in just that first sentence, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Just before I sat down to study I prayed. I opened up my heart and told God what was troubling me and asked for His help. All that followed in the verse of the day held no specific meaning for me but perhaps it touched others. How I know that is in knowing just how God works.

I have been telling others that God speaks to us through His Word and some resist the notion because of their own personal situation. They are looking to be satisfied on their own terms and not God’s.

Sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is simply “Then don’t.”

I have been questioning my own decisions of late. My motive for making those choices has been love. Things have not turned out as I had hoped, but that hope was driven by fear not trust in God. Making choices because of love is God’s will. Our hope for the outcome of those choices has more to do with self interests than God’s will. We do not stop being human just because we are doing the right thing.

Lean into hope that is not based on God’s promises and we can expect to be disappointed. That is disappointing. That is why I began questioning my decisions.

God’s answer to that is, “Stop doing that.” 

Where do I go from here? Since praying my heart and looking to God to answer me in spirit and in truth worked this morning, then I will keep doing that.

• Psalm 3:4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
• Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
  Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.