Ask Me!

Ask Me!

A dear friend of mine returned from a trip to Israel last week and brought me a beautiful, hand-carved olivewood statue of the apostle Peter.  She knew that Peter is my very favorite apostle.  I realize that most people love Paul, whom they believe took the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot as the twelfth apostle.  However, I love Peter.  I understand him.  When he was good, he was very, very good.  When he was bad, he was horrid.  He ran hot or cold, never lukewarm.  He was either cutting off the ear of the guard or denying that he even knew Christ.  I can identify with Peter’s moodswings.  Today, he would be called bi-polar; I believe he was passionately normal. 

As she told me about her trip, I went back in time to thirteen years ago, when I had the privilege to go to Israel.  However, God took me back not only to Israel, but also to how I got there.  Occasionally, we need to be reminded of the faithfulness of God to do and be above all that the mind can comprehend.

When we first moved to Georgia, our pastor was taking a group from the church to Israel within a few months.  I was fascinated and, promptly, placed a down payment on the trip.  However, within weeks, my husband lost his job, and I had to ask for the deposit to be returned.  Finances were difficult, as my husband rebuilt his career track.  We had to budget every dime, carefully, with two sons in school, though both of them were working, as well.  Every other year, when the pastor would take a group to the Holy Land, I would yearn to be a part of that group.  I never mentioned my desire to anyone, not even to my husband who was struggling with the budget as much as I. 

After nearly ten years, the pastor announced the next upcoming trip.  I remember it as if it were yesterday.  I was in the choir loft, and we were filing out at the end of the service.  I was nearly last and still a good distance from the exit when the pastor mentioned Israel.  In my heart, I said, Oh, wow.  I would really love to go on that trip.  I heard the gentle voice of the Lord respond, Ask Me.  Immediately, I went into back-up mode.  Father, I can’t ask for a trip to Israel.  You know we can’t afford it.  I know we can’t afford it.  That’s an unnecessary luxury.  Again, I heard, Ask Me.  My response?  Lord, it’s too much.  I can’t ask for that.  One more time:  Ask Me.  Finally, in submission, I said, Alright, Father, would you allow me to go to see the land where your Son was born?  Just to be safe, I added:  But, if you don’t want me to see it until the thousand year reign, I’m okay with that, too.

That was on a Sunday.  On Friday morning, I had taken the morning off from work to run some errands.  Before I left home, the phone rang.  A precious woman in our church, who had recently lost her husband, said, Gerry have you ever been to Israel?  I replied that I had not.  Then, she said, Would you like to go?  I thought that she was asking if I would room with her if I could go.  I told her that, as much as I would like to be her roommate and go to Israel, it was just not a good time for us, since my husband had just begun another new job.  It was quiet for a moment before she said, No, you don’t understand.  In my quiet time, yesterday, God told me that I should send you to Israel as His gift.  Tears began to stream down my face, as I heard the voice of the Lord say quietly, I told you to ask me. 

I could hardly wait to tell my family that afternoon what God had done.  Children, however, do have a way of bringing you back to earth.  As I told them what the lady had said, our older son said, Mom, there are probably a lot of people who would like to send you to Israel.  The question is does she plan to bring you back.

Israel was amazing, and I was privileged to see the places where our Lord had walked, performed miracles, died, and was raised from the dead.  The people of Israel were fascinating, and my love for the details of our Lord’s live was rekindled.  However, more than anything, God taught me some truths about how much He loves us.

First, I want to make very clear that I do not believe that prayer is to influence the mind of God toward us.  Instead, I believe that prayer is to conform our mind to the mind of Christ.  Jeremiah 33:3 teaches us to call upon Him and He will answer and show us great and mighty things which we could never even imagine.  Prayer is simply admitting our helplessness. 

In addition, prayer is to be based on His word.  Most of the time, my prayers are based on conformity to His written word.  Seldom has He been as specific as He was on that Sunday in the choir loft.  My prayer to Him that day was not really about Israel but about trust.  In my frailty, I needed to see Him afresh and anew.  To this day, when I am struggling, He takes me back to those times in my life, when even I could see His great power and love.  He always takes me to Calvary, to the poodle clipper where He gave us our first son, to our younger son’s unexpected and miraculous birth, to our move to Georgia, to a needed haircut, and to a woman who was obedient to the Lord and generous to me because I yearned to see Israel.

Is He telling you to ask Him something?  Something so big and beyond what you think that even He can do?  Is there something in your life that He wants to give you, somewhere He wants to take you, something that He wants to replace?  If He is telling you to ask, I want to give a witness that you can trust Him, above all that your heart and mind can comprehend.  After all, He offered us the miracle of salvation, didn’t He?  Ask Him.

© 2010 Gerry Sisk

(07/28/10)