Good news! This morning, the Orkin guy came by and said they would fix the damage to the house. In fact, the moment he left, the carpenter they will be using called and said he plans to start on it immediately. Great news! I can't tell you the relief I feel!

These past few weeks have presented me with multiple opportunities to rely on God and His promises to take care of me and my family. But it's interesting...as I was doing my quiet time this morning, I saw things from a slightly different perspective. I'm currently using Beth Moore's 90 days with John as part of my daily Bible study. And this morning, the passage we studied was in Acts where Peter and John encounter a beggar at the Beautiful Gate. The beggar was asking for silver and gold, which was absolutely the most reasonable thing for him to be asking for. Silver and gold would go a long way to meeting his most basic needs: food, shelter, enough to get by for another day. He certainly couldn't go do any other kind of productive work.

And yet. As logical as his request was, as much as that was the MOST he could have conceivably asked for...there was more God had planned for him.

But when Peter held out his hand, he offered him not money, but something far beyond what the man was expecting: a new life. The Holy Spirit, through Peter's grip, gave the man the ability to walk - strengthening his feeble, crippled limbs. The man was suddenly leaping about, praising God, no longer confined to a life of begging, but liberated to new life.

A point that Beth made today was this: is there someone out there who's been begging God for trivial things like silver and gold when God wants to raise them to their feet to jump, dance and praise Him. Made me wonder what God might be trying to accomplish in my life through all these trials lately. I have definitely been asking him for the daily provision...to help us get through everything...but maybe I'm missing the point. I find myself asking what I'm not seeing. What does God desire to do in my life beyond the obvious? How can these situations be turned into jumping, dancing and praising God?

I don't have the answer yet, but it seems a good question.