Monday, April 7
Proverbs 31:29 “Many women do noble
things but you surpass them all.”
The Importance of
Prayer
I learned at
When I was in college we had a curfew and all the guys
in Pi Kappa Phi, after taking our dates back to their dorm, would sit on the
steps of the fraternity house and talk. Now that I’m an old guy and
have been a young guy I can tell you, old guys always talk about work and young
guys always talk about girls.
One night sitting on the steps of the fraternity house,
Bill Stark, president of the fraternity, asked the question that haunted me for
several years. He asked, “What happens if you get married only to
discover you should have married someone else?”
When I arrived at Emory I realized I needed to focus
just on study. I realized I could not date and focus on the
complexity of my theological education. I remembered what I had been
taught as a child and began to pray that I would meet and marry the right
girl. I also made suggestions to God a number of things I wanted her
to be. For those three years of seminary I prayed for my wife-to-be
every single day.
The first Sunday out of seminary, as I began to preach
my very first sermon in my very first church, I was overwhelmed with a beautiful
blonde, blue-eyed, nineteen year old girl sitting on the front row of my little
church. I continued to pray as we dated for a year in hopes that she
was the right one.
At the end of a about a year, one Saturday night, as I
was working on the sermon I set the message aside and began to pray again about
my wife-to-be and asked God if Averette was the right one. As I
prayed, God communicated to me that she was indeed the right one and I needed to
ask her to be my wife. I also felt confirmation from the Lord I would
never regret it.
So, I walked away from the dining room table and called
Averette on the phone. I asked, “Hey, do you want to get
married?” She asked, “Are you kidding?” And I said, “No,
I’m not kidding.” She asked, “When?” I said, “Get
the calendar!” Now the question of her being the wrong girl has been
answered through the years. Averette, after 28 years has become a
beautiful lady with great class that I have loved every single day of our
marriage. She has brought me great joy. The insight of
God is far more decisive than just our human feelings.
It is important to ask God about our future and trust
Him for what we cannot see.
Prayer:
Dear God, help me to have confidence that you are
working out my life. Amen.