The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.
Isaiah 50:4 New King James Version
“Here, see if you can figure this out,” my co-worker handed me his crossword puzzle. He was stuck. He had stared at it for about thirty minutes when he asked me for help. I saw why he had no words when I looked at it for a few minutes. It was a hard puzzle, and I could only help him with one word. It was forty across and I was reasonably certain I had the right word for it. I had to leave, and I came back about thirty minutes later and he had it finished.
“That one word you gave me opened the whole thing up for me,” he declared when he saw me and showed me the puzzle. It was finished. I’ve had that happen to me when I’ve worked on crossword puzzles. I can’t figure it out and finally let someone else look and they help me with a word or two and it is the breakthrough I need. Sometimes the word they give me helps me realize I’ve looked at the puzzle the wrong way and need to change my thinking about it.
How many times have I been like that in life? I have a problem, but I keep it to myself and try to figure it out on my own. I finally ask God for help and a day or two later, someone says something to me that helps me with it. They don’t know what they did, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. Or I’m reading my bible and the text feels like it reaches out and grabs me and I see my problem differently and it helps.
And finally, there are those puzzles I never get figured out, no matter how many people I have asked to look at it. It’s usually those vile New York Times crossword puzzles. I put it away and realize that the puzzle won’t be done, at least not by me.
Sometimes I ask God for help and don’t get an answer. He’s silent on the matter and I know I must set it aside and trust Him to reveal it in His timing.
Let’s be willing to ask God and our brothers and sisters in the Lord for help. Let’s also be willing to cast it all on Him when there is no answer.
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