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It occurred to me today - God wants more for me than I want for myself. Have you ever stopped to think about that? One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20 which tells us God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. But it is even more than that, more than His ability. He is certainly able to do more than we can imagine but He also desires to do more than we can imagine. Isaiah 60:17 says, "Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron." The problem is, sometimes, in our eyes, this looks like unanswered prayers.

My sister-in-law brought the Isaiah verse up to me yesterday and it really challenged my thinking. As part of this contentment project, I must be willing to let go of my hopes and dreams in favor of God's perfect plan for my life. Sometimes, that means letting go of the things I think I want or need in favor of what God says is best. That is hard for the control freak in me. It's also hard for the child in me who wants what I want when I want it. But when I read these verses, I realize how silly my thinking is. I am asking for bronze when God wants to give me GOLD. Who would want bronze instead of gold?

Instead of looking at my prayers as unanswered I need to rest in the truth. God has something better for me. That will probably look like something entirely different than I expect but that is the amazing thing about God - He is so much bigger than our expectations.