Why Did God Make You a Woman?

The Creation of Woman -

Why Did God Bother?

It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone. ~Genesis 2:18

What was God's real plan for the creation of woman? Couldn’t we have all just been men?

I don’t know if you can relate, but these are questions that often crossed my mind in years past.

In many societies across the world, it often seems like women get the short end of the proverbial stick. Even in Jesus' time, there was a Jewish prayer where men praised God that they were not a gentile, a dog, or a woman!

But, what was God's original plan? Why did He create us in the first place? 

Why God Might Not Be Answering Your Prayers

Written by Jonathan Kroeker

Take today’s next step: Do you write? Send in your devos for consideration.

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7)

The easiest way for a married man to make his prayers ineffective is to be inconsiderate or disrespectful to his wife. How many of my own prayers have been scuttled simply because I haven’t been nice to my wife? Just to think about it makes me shudder.

God cares deeply about the state of your marriage because it is meant to be a reflection of Christ’s relationship with His church (Ephesians 5:32). God intends for your neighbor, co-worker, family member, and friend to get a glimpse of the gospel through the way you treat your wife. 

Why Didn't Jesus Raise Lazarus Immediately?

Jack Graham

When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?”

After all, he had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care?

Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay?

There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me?

Yes, he does! The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you. His tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest.

Answer Envy

Karen Ehman

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

Devotion:

Do you ever envy God's answers to someone else's prayers?

I remember almost choking on the words, "I am so happy for you!" in response to the breaking news that friends of ours from North Carolina had sold their house after it had been on the market for twenty days.

To them it had been a long twenty days. Houses were normally snatched up quickly in their area. In our shaky Michigan economy, however, it takes a bit longer. In fact, on the day she announced that her home now had a "sold" sign in the front yard, we turned another page on our calendar — marking how long our house had been for sale. Not twenty days, but twenty months to be exact.

Although I was genuinely thrilled for my friend, I was also a tad green with jealousy.

“From Empty to Full” – Part 2 “The Fullness of Time”

“A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God I’m thirsty for God-alive.”

Psalm 42:1
The Message

EXPLORATION:

“From Empty to Full” – Part 2

“The Fullness of Time”

“Fullness” – Containing all that is possible. Complete in every detail.

What am I “waiting” for God to do in His “fullness of time” in my life?

INSPIRATION:

“But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son to redeem us.”

Galatians 4:4- 5
K.J.V.
The Message

I want to begin our devotional today with a thought-provoking prayer I read several years ago in one of my treasured books, Laughter, Silence and Shouting by Kathy Keay. This prayer is entitled, “Waiting” and it was written by women who found themselves in a time of “postponement” or “expectancy.” A time when the answer didn’t come, immediately! A time when God’s help didn’t arrive as fast as necessary.

Waiting for God’s Answer

Written by Chris Bradley

Take today’s next step: We need more authors for men’s devos. What has God taught you lately?

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31)

One of the hardest things that Christians have to do is to wait on the Lord. Our patience runs thin and this often gets us into trouble making us do irrational things ahead of God’s direction.

But God’s time is different from ours. Although it’s hard to keep in focus, just be reminded that God has many plans for you. It is important to learn to stay still and wait for Him. He has promised to provide everything you need in due time.

On certain occasions, He might say, “No”. But just because He closes a door on something you’ve been praying about for a long time, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. He always has your best interest in mind and will give you something much better than you imagined.

Are You Waiting in God’s Waiting Room?

Written by Lillian Penner

Is God teaching you something while you are waiting for an answer from Him?  Are you listening to Him? Do you pray for patience?

Recently my husband and I were waiting for a connecting flight in a large airport. Our first flight arrived early enough to be able to request an earlier “standby flight” for our last leg of the trip home. We had already been in the airport about five hours and we were anxiously waiting for our “standby status” to be cleared. As weary travelers, we didn’t want to wait three more hours for our reserved flight. We prayed and waited while we watched the monitor for our “stand-by” clearance. Finally, the agent gave us clearance to board the plane.

This scenario reminded me of my prayer life. Many times, I have to wait and “standby” for God’s answer. God doesn’t always answer my prayers immediately when I pray and I have to wait in God’s waiting room for a while. Our society has conditioned us to expect immediate results. We find it very difficult to wait for anything.

When God doesn't make sense...

A little boy wanted $100 very badly. He prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. So, he decided to write a letter to God requesting $100. 

When the postal authorities received the letter to "God, USA", they decided to send it to the President. 

The President was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. 

The little boy was delighted with the $5 bill, and sat down to write a thank-you note to God. The postal authorities forwarded this letter on to the President, too. 
It read: 

"Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington, D.C., and those guys deducted $95 in taxes!" 

Praying Together

Acts 1:12–26

They all joined together constantly in prayer.

Acts 1:14

I don’t remember when Dan and I started praying together, but I do recall that our first attempts felt awkward. For a long time we only prayed the Lord’s Prayer out loud together. This was safe because we both knew the words to it.

Over time, and as each of us felt more comfortable being emotionally and spiritually naked with each other, we began to talk out loud to God as if he was the third person in our relationship. Now we try to pray out loud together daily. It’s no longer awkward, and it has promoted spiritual intimacy. That was an unexpected bonus of being married to each other. No one had ever told us we could experience this kind of intimacy in our relationship.

God's Positive Answers

You Say               God Says                     Bible Verse
It's impossible           All things are possible         Luke 18:27
I'm too tired             I will give you rest            Matthew 11:28-30
Noone Really Loves me     I love you                      John 3:16; 3:34
I Can't go on             My Grace is Sufficient          2 Corinthians 12:9
I Cant figure things out  I will direct your steps        Proverbs 3:5-6
I Can't do it             You can do all things           Philippians 4:13
I'm not able              I am able                       2 Corinthians 9:8
It's not worth it         It will be worth it             Romans 8:28
I can't forgive myself    I Forgive you                   1 John 1:9 Romans 8:1
I Can't manage            I will supply all your needs    Philippians 4:19
I'm afraid                Your not given a spirit of fear 2 Timothy 1:7
I'm always worried        Cast all your cares on me       1 Peter 5:7
I'm not smart enough      I give you wisdom               1 Corinthians 1:30
I feel all Alone          I Will never leave you          Hebrews 13:5

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