Isaiah 45:11
The soft rolls done and on the rise, I started working on making French bread. As I kneaded the dough, I was praying for friends and loved ones to be saved, healed, and delivered.
Not just praying but giving directions, “God, get my brother THAT job and make the loan on THAT house come through for my friend.” I was deep in prayer while I was vigorously kneading that French bread.
Mid-prayer, God spoke to me, “What would you think if the dough spoke to you and said, “I think you should use a lighter hand to knead me so the bread will be more tender.”
Startled, I told God, “French bread has to be kneaded with a heavy hand in order for the crust to develop properly; obviously the dough has no idea what I’m doing.” God replied, “Even so.” I stopped kneading, “What?????”
Then, I realized it wasn’t up to me to tell God HOW to do things; it was my place to simply give the “life dough” of those I love to Him and let him “knead” as He wills. My job ended at bringing their name before Him daily and praying that they be yielded to the Master’s hand.
HE would decide what should be done to lead them, bend them or even break them. The circumstances and trials of their life were between Him and THEM. A plan for their individual lives as well as the lives of others through them had been made in full knowledge of the “dough” He was working with.
Like Joseph in prison; in the end, Joseph was exactly where God wanted him to be, to do exactly what God had planned for him to do. The “kneading” had been rough, but the finished loaf was perfect. God worked not only in Joseph’s own life but through his life to the nation of Israel.
Somehow, I’d been thinking that praying meant helping God out with decisions about the lives of others. I’d forgotten that God often uses diversity as a tool and as a witness. Now, I daily bring those I love to the Lord and—just leave them there– with no direction or opinion given.
Isaiah 45:11 This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?”
Prayer: Father, please forgive me for trying to tell you what to do in the lives of others. Help me to remember that you are a sovereign God who does not need to be instructed. Do as you will in the lives of those that I love so that your perfect plan will be realized. In Jesus name. Amen.